FROM THE 



Crescent City 



TO THE 



Golden Gate 



VIA THE 



SUNSET ROUTE 



OF THE 



Southern Pacific Company. 



is 



By BEN C. TRUMAN, 



AUTHOR OF "SEMI-TROPICAL CALIFORNIA:' "OCCIDENTAL SKETCHES? " TOURISTS' ILLUSTRATED 
GUI Oli TO THE SUMMER A. XD WINTER RESORTS OF CALIFORNIA," "HOMES AND 
HAPPINESS IN CALIFORNIA," "FIELD OF HONOR," ETC, ETC. 



wjv 18 \m jP ) f 



r886: 



Liberty Printing Company, 
Designers, Engravers, Printers nod Binder , 

l(>7 LniF.i' i v S i . Ni u Vukk. 



ILLUSTRATIONS:— made expressly for this work. 



pa ge. engra ving. 

4 The, Loop, - 

7 Bird's Eye View of New Orleans, ... 

10 Places of Interest in New Orleans, 

12 Citizens of New Orleans in Embryo, 

13 Scene in French Quarter of New Orleans, 

14 Ante-bellum Reminiscences, - 

15 Spanish Fort near Lake Pontchartrain, - 

17 Products of Louisiana, .... 

18 Map — From New Orleans to San Antonio, 

19 Louisiana Plantation Scene, - 

21 Bayou Teche, Louisiana, - - - 

22 Louisiana Bayou, 

23 Scene in Eastern Texas, 

25 San Antonio River, Texas, - - - - 

27 Old Mission Churches near San Antonio, 

28 Map — From San Antonio to El Paso, 

30 Grand Canon of the Rio Grande, Texas, - 

33 Painted Cave— Rio Grande Canon, Texas, 

34 City of El Paso, Texas, - 

36 Map — From El Paso to Los Angeles, 

35 Stein's Pass, New Mexico, 

39 Mirage in Arizona, 

40 Natural Spires along Gila River, Arizona, 

41 Scenes at and near Yuma, Arizona, 

42 Ixdio Station, California, - - 

42 Riverside, California, - - 

43 In and around Los Angeles, Cal., - 

44 In and around San Gabriel and Pasadena, Cal., 

46 Ocean Sculpture, near Santa Monica and Santa Cruz, 

47 The Raymond Hotel, South Pasadena, 

49 Map — From Los Angeles to San Francisco, 

49 The Arlington Hotel, Santa Barbara, Cal., 

50 Monster Grape Vine, near Santa Barbara, 

51 Old Mission Church at Santa Barbara, 

52 Approach to Oakland Ferry, - 
54 Bird's Eye View of San Francisco, - 
56 Palace Hotel, San Francisco, - 



ENGRA VERS. 
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ILLUSTRATIONS— Continued. 



PA GE. ENGRA VI NG. 


2L lv OA/1 i AiAj. 


57 


Woodward's Gardens, San Francisco, 


T ■ T_ . T~> XT \T 1 _ 

Liberty Printing Co., New York 


59 


Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, - 


Liberty Printing Co., New York 


01 


Chinese Quarters of San Francisco, 


Lewis Engraving Co., Boston 


02 


Golden Gate and Cliff House, - 


Dana, Boston 


°3 


San Francisco Bay, - 


Liberty Printing Co., New \ ork 


°3 


Lake Merritt, Oakland, California, 


Rand-Avery Supply Co., Boston 


fie 


General \ iew of the Yosemite Valley, California, 


Liberty Printing Co., New York 


00 


Clouds Rest, \ osemite Valley, - 


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°7 


Yosemite Falls, - 


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0o 


Bridal Veil, Cascade, Vernal and Neyada Falls, 


T * i_ . T~\ • . • XT AT" 1 

Liberty Printing Co., New York 


7° 


>V AU U.\A flUI r.l., .Nfc.AK .VI AMrUbA DIG 1 Ktt VjKONlL, 


Liberty Printing Co., New York 


7 1 


oPERRY S iIOILL AI CAL.W ERAb DIG 1 RLE uRO\ t, 


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72 


.UUI> I OllAslAj 


T ! 1_ . T~% XT XT' l 

Liberty Printing Co., New York 


73 


' 1 1 it f ( ' AT 1 L' A Li M T A (~* CVC'UD C 

1 HL L-ALIrOKNIA LjEYSERS, - - 


- Johnson, Boston 


74 


C / t? V T? T \t TD cpn T TT f \ D T? C T MU A D AT TCTAP A 

OLtlNfc 1 IN r H. 1 Kir ir.U rUKtsl, IN.E.AK. ^ALISIUOA, 


Lewis Engraving Co., Boston 


75 


i\ArA JUL) A. jlKI.M/S AlNU oLKKOUINUliNGS, 


Liberty Printing Co., New \ ork 


70 


f~* APITAT AT ^APR AMTMTA _ — 
vAt 1 1 UL Al OALlvA.MtiN 1 \J. - - — 


- Colby, Boston 


77 


1 / U IV A1N JJ v> A o L. A D H, L#AKLb, - - - 


Johnson, Boston 


•7R 
y° 


J_. /Y K. r, lAilUr, AAU JL KK'Jl.MMAOb, - 


Colby and Johnson, Boston 


"70 

79 


F\'l''BVIi(ll)V'<; T<" R T F VII A 11 W A R A r"TTT V " AT Ta Unii' l"* I T V 

1j t i.r\ i i > w i / i o x i\ n , . . i ' v nAlirtul /\ A i Auurj v-. ill, 


Lewis Engraving Co., Boston 


80 


Paraiso Hot and Coi n Si'kincs - 


Schultze, San Francisco 


8l 


I ICK Ohsfr VATOi; v at xTniiXT H a \rii tdv 


Liberty Printing Co., New \ ork 


82 


POLE IIoUSE AND COTTAGES AT SANTA CRUZ 


Schultze, San Francisco 


°3 


( ,1.'\'CI/A1 \y T TV\VT f\ T? TJ~Vri.'T Fi 1- T \f/^XTT17 AyT AMTCD T7 \ r f Al 

wr..\ &KAL V1JK.V* Ur IT Jl I.L JLM'.L. ..VIOIN 1 lVlOIN 1 tKh, V , LAL,, 


Liberty Printing Co., New York 


8=; 


Rai i (>x'V ^(""t.-vij' at rup T-Trvri?r Ficr iUamti.' 

UAli< 1 > . > l ^J^r.iir. f\ L 1 1 1 Tj 1 1 1 J I I . 1 . JL/ AM, 1V1 VJ IN A 1 . , - 


Liberty Printing Co., New York 


ft-7 


I a ( ' I ■ v \ Fi ir I Rev at I 1 1 - 1 TVT / i\"r'r 
JU. A ( j 1 EN A VJ V.\. I\ C. » A 1 1 ' 1". I . ivl OA 1 h, 


Liberty Printing Co., New York 


80 


A 'I" tup IlrvrPT Fii'i MnvTi.' C i iri* FTrwKi.- 


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9 1 


In the Garden of Del Monte, - 


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93 


At Del Monte Beach and Pavilion, 


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95 


The Old Mission Church near Del Monti., 


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96 


Plan of Hotel Del Monte, - 


Bancroft & Co., San Francisco 




Plan of Hotel Del Monte, 


Bancroft & Co., San Francisco 


98 


Plan of Hotel Del Mom k, 


Bancroft & Co., San FrancUco 


99 


Plan of Hotel Del Monte, - 


Bancroft & Co., San Francisco 



I5ni.cred according to act of Congress m the year i836, 
Uy BEN C. TRUMAN, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, ,u W'.ishinpton, D. C. 



Crescent City 



to 



Golden Gate. 



AT THE MANHATTAN CLUB, NEW YORK. 



0, your father has made up his mind to take his family out to California, 
£j at last ? " 



U. S. Army, who had seen service in Mexico, on the frontier, in the South during 
the War of the Rebellion, and who had traveled largely throughout the world 
and observed intelligently and reasoned accordingly ; and they w ere addressed to 
Mr. Thomas E. Rowan, whose father was a cautious but successful capitalist of 
New York; who lived in pretentious style in the metropolis, when at home, but 
who had spent a number of winters in Florida and Europe. Mr. Rowan's familj 
consisted of Mrs. Rowan, his son Thomas, and two beautiful daughters the 
Misses Georgie and Gussie Rowan. 

Young Rowan — who was almost always addressed by his friends as Tommy — 
replied : 

" I came down to the Manhattan on purpose to say to you that our agitation 
of the subject of a trip to California had culminated in the determination of my 
father to take us out there for the winter. It's a fixed fact, I am almost suit." 

"Well, now, do you know I have heard of nothing so delightful for a long 
time? but, first of all, you must have some lunch with me, and while we are dis- 
cussing that we will chat about California." 

"And how to get there?" 

" Most assuredly. Hut you have no conception. Tommy, of my joy over what 
you say, partly because I am an old friend of your father, and have w ished, ever 
since my retirement from active arm}- life, that we could make the California tour 
together — you know I go put there on an average of once a year to see my 




These words were uttered by Colonel King, a retired officer of the 



6 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



married daughter, who lives under her own vine and fig tree near Sacramento, 
and who has lately honored me by making me a grandfather." 
" You don't say so ! " 

" But I do say so ! and I say so with a good deal of gusto ! Still, I do not 
know which event I should feel the most exuberant over — the new arrival or 
the new departure. You know, Tommie, I have been trying to prevail upon 
your father for four or five years to drop Florida." 

" And so have hundreds of others who have wintered in both Florida and 
California, and who, of course, can make comparisons. I think what you have 
said to him and to my mother has had a good deal to do with shaping his 
new plans *, but I am of the opinion that our physician has at last put his foot 
down " 

" God bless that physician and that foot ! " 

" For he said to father the other morning : 1 Mr. Rowan, let me say to 

you, sir, that you must drop Florida, at once and forever!'" 

" Well, I am truly glad that there is one physician in New York who is fair 
enough to state what nearly all of them will tell you privately they think. 
You know, Tommie, it amazes me to witness the annual exodus of northern 
people to Florida upon the approach of cold weather. With the exception of 
Mentone and Nice — and they greatly remind me of Florida, with their continuous 
moisture — there has been no section of country so raved about by those who 
know nothing, or very little, about it, and so extravagantly written of by those 
whose business it seems to be to make it the Mecca for the invalid and the 
valetudinarian, as Florida. It has a certain charm, to be sure, for the strong, 
who go there annually to escape the rigors of our northern winters, and who 
have never been anywhere else in their lives ; and there is always hope, of course, 
for those who ail, and who believe the graphically-written descriptions of parties 
whose particular aim in life seems to be to make enough out of tourists from 
December to March to keep them in bodily ease during the rest of the year. 
But I tell you, Tommie, most of the people who go to Florida make a mistake ; 
and, at last, many of them are beginning to find it out." 

" I must confess, Colonel, you know pretty well what you are talking about, 
as you have visited almost every part of the world, and, especially, all places of 
interest in the United States." 

"Well, I've knocked about enough during the past fifty years to know 
something concerning this planet of ours, I can assure you. I was in the army, 
you know, nearly forty years, have spent several winters in Europe, have been 
stationed all over our own country, and especially in the south and in the far 
west. No man living — and I do not say this from a standpoint of vanity — 



8 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



knows generally more about the climatic conditions of Mentone and Nice, 
Jacksonville and St. Augustine, and of Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and California 
than does your humble servant." 

" Do you know, Colonel, I'm very anxious to have you post me a little, as 
we soon start, if not for California, for some place. Of course, we can't think 
of Europe again for some time, with the cholera raging or threatening in 
Italy, France, and Spain; and we are all mighty tired of Florida. It has 
rained at least fifty days out of the ninety during the three last winters ; and 
father, who suffers greatly with asthma, declares that he gets very little relief 
from his Florida trips. My mother, too, who has pulmonary troubles, doubts 
whether she is much benefited. The girls, you know, are strong, and get 
along anywhere, and enjoy themselves. To tell you the truth, Colonel, after 
looking into the subject carefully, and reading the accounts of those who 
have wintered there, and conversing with our many friends who have been 
there, as I said before, we have almost fully concluded to start for California 
in a few days." 

" Good ! You will never regret it. I am going, too, in a week. I wouldn't 
miss having your father's family go for a good deal. It will make my tenth trip 
to California since I went out there as a captain in 1847. I have made the 
journey by all the routes, too, and " 

i 

"Which do you prefer, Colonel?" 

" Oh ! the Sunset Route, surely. Indeed, it is, in my opinion, the only route 
one should take during the winter months. I prefer it over all the others at all 
times of the year, even. It is below the snow line, you know, and is built in a 
very superior manner ; it has the most excellent eating-houses of any of the trans- 
continental lines, makes good time, runs through a thousand kinds of country, 
presenting a greater variety of scenery than any other route, and has the reputation 
of taking you into Los Angeles or San Francisco on time, to a second, and 
always without a scratch. It is a marvellously nice thing, my boy, to crawl 
into your section every night, while skipping across the country at the rate of 
from twenty-five to thirty-five miles an hour, and feel that same degree of safety 
one feels upon retiring in his own house." 

" I can see at once, from what you say, that we should make a mistake in 
going by any other route, at least at this time of the year." 

" The biggest mistake of your lives, I can assure you, on the honor of a 
man who has made round trips over all the lines, and who has no interest except 
to get the best and safest means of travel he can for his money. I notice by 
the San Francisco papers, which I daily receive, that the travel over the 
Sunset Route is immense — more than over all the other routes put together." 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. g 

" I have longed to go to California, and especially by the Southern Pacific, 
or Sunset Route, as you term it. By the way, Colonel, this will give us an 
excellent opportunity of seeing New Orleans, won't it?" 

*' Yes ; and you will enjoy New Orleans amazingly. There is no place in the 
Union that possesses more attractive and distinctive features. It is an old city, 
and has not changed much since I first saw it. A few new buildings have taken 
the places of indifferent ones upon valuable sites, a number of new monuments 
have been added to the old ones, while almost everything else seems unchanged. 
The town is built on a crescent-shaped tract of land, formed by a bend in the 
Mississippi River, which has given it the name of Crescent City. At this point 
the sun seems to rise west of the river. It was first settled in 1718, by a small 
French colony, under Bienville, and named in honor of the Duke of Orleans. 
Commerce was first opened with Great Britain in 1764. The Spanish took pos- 
session in 1769. The first Americans settled there in 1789. Louisiana went back 
to France in 1801. It became the property of the United States in 1803. General 
Jackson arrived in New Orleans on December 1, 1812, and defeated the British 
on January 8, 18 13. Farragut's fleet, after eight days' fighting, ran past the forts 
near the mouth of the river, in April, 1862, and General Butler took possession 
of the city a few days later, and New Orleans remained in possession of the 
Federal army until the close of hostilities. The great riot of September 14, 1874, 
took place in front of the custom-house, on Canal Street ; and the Metropolitan 
Police, under General Longstreet, was defeated by the citizens. The population 
of the city at the last census was 216,000, but is believed to be upward of 250,000 
at present. A large portion of the population are negroes, nearly all of whom 
speak French. There are tens of thousands of whites and blacks who speak no 
other language. Canal Street, one hundred and forty feet wide, and one of the 
prettiest boulevards in the country, divides the city into English ami French 
parts. Most of the cemeteries are in the heart of the city, and their dead are 
buried above ground. The French Market is the first place visited by strangers, 
and occupies several blocks near Jackson Square. It was built in 1S13, and looks 
like a rookery. No other such place exists in the world. All nationalities arc 
represented, and all languages may be listened to. Babel was a mere kindergarten 
compared to this polyglot. The best time to visit the quaint concern is on 
Sunday morning, between five and eleven o'clock. The first-class hotels are not 
so good as those in the north and wist, but the charges are about the same. 
A substantial meal in a Canal Street restaurant costs about the same as in 
New York, although there are no such elegant and satisfactory places in New 
Orleans as there are in Xew York. The average hackman is a gentleman and a 
humanitarian compared with the Jehu of New York. Clothing and dress goods, 




5 . Interior of French .viancei , u. ^ Ro beit E. Lee Monument. 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 



underwear for men and women, and handkerchiefs and gloves are as cheap 
there as in any other of our large cities. New Orleans is very orderly, and 
most of the white men and women appear tidy and respectable. It is handsomely 
lighted all night. The leading newspapers are all very newsy and readable. 
The city takes good care of its indigent and infirm. The Fire Department 
is notably efficient. Many of the churches and theatres arc very fine. The 
private residences north of Canal are generally embowered amid orange trees 
and magnolias, and bespeak comfort and refinement. The club-houses are elegant 
concerns." 

" You are a perfect encyclopaedia, Colonel, and I am mightily entertained." 
" Tommie, you natter me." 

" But I don't mean to. I only state a fact when I declare that you are very 
entertaining. I want you to tell me something about the New Orleans ladies. I 
have always heard them spoken of as exceedingly pretty and vivacious." 

" The girls ! " 

" Yes, the girls. I'm all attention." 

" Tommie, the New Orleans girls are a joy to the beholder." 
"I'll bet they are. Tell me all about them — do, please?" 

"Well, then: A creamy complexion with, sometimes, but not often, a faint 
flush of pink underneath ; soft eyes with a world of dreams in them, a rounded 
figure, tiny hands and feet, and kittenish ways make it no marvel that the youth 
masculine of New Orleans is mostly married at twenty-two or twenty-three. A 
girl of twenty who has not received half a dozen offers, at least, is socially a 
failure. Matrimony is the grand, authorized aim, as publicly recognized as the 
Louisiana lottery. Girls are educated to marry, and to detest the circumstances 
that compel them to earn their living in any less womanly way. But there are 
girls, brave girls, whose pretty faces may be seen behind the counters of almost 
every large store in New Orleans, who, while hating conformity with shoppy 
conditions, have put their delicate shoulders to the wheel of family adversity, and 
Sweetly contributed their mites to the general income. Of the professional 
ambition that fires their northern sisters they know nothing. They are innately 
and entirely domestic, lovable and loving. A young lady may receive alone, 
and generally does; may drive with a gentleman, but may not accept his escort 
to the theatre, concert or ball, without a chaperon. Sunday evening is devoted 
to reception all over the city J church in the morning is the- usual limit to 
devotion ; fire-crackers and brass bands enliven the day, and anything can be 
purchased, from carpets to caramels." 

44 By George! Colonel! You ought to write a novel. Now tell me some- 
thing about the men." 



12 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



" The Louisianian is a most chivalric individual. His stature is not usually 
in proportion to the height of his aspirations or the breadth of his perceptions; 
but what there is of him tingles with appreciation of feminine loveliness and 
devotion to feminine requirements. His countenance is sallow, but fails to 
advertise the awful ravages of American dyspepsia that walk abroad in so many 
of New York's hurrying faces. His cigars are excellent, and his manners 
unimpeachable. Business men will ask you to pay three prices for their goods 
with a serenity unrippled, and a bland peisuasion that is irresistible ; but if 
misfortune makes you a creditor they will rarely push their claims." 




CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS IN EMBRYO. 



* His politeness is proverbial?" 

" Uniform politeness is the spirit of his land. It is ever with you — on the 
street, at the club, and in the hotel. Youth gives instant preference to gray 
hairs, and it is accepted with old-time grace ; that a lady should stand while 
there is a masculine occupant of a seat is simply unheard of; the negro who 
passes your car-fare raises his hat as he receives it; you are assisted into cars and 
out of them ; and a thousand and one little unobtrusive acts of consideration 
make the stranger from the land of snow feel the warmth of kindly natures, as 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 



well as of 8o° Fahr. There is no western curiosity, no eastern self-consciousness, 
no northern reserve. People address you and you are verbally caressed. You 
could not escape from this balmy influence if you wanted to. and you don't 
want to. On the contrary, you rejoice the more you are affected by it. But 
enough of the Crescent City and its people, for the present. When we 
arrive at New Orleans we will together visit the French Market, the Mint, the 
Cathedral, Jackson Square, Hotel Royal, beneath whose dome millions of dollars' 
worth of slaves have been disposed of; the Pirate Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, 
the monuments, dueling grounds, cotton-presses, cemeteries, race-tracks, theatres, 
churches. Cotton Exchange, clubs, and a great main- other interesting places, 
too numerous, at this time, to mention. I want to tell you something, now, 

about California/' 

" Let me assure you, 
Colonel, that I shall be 
greatly interested in what- 
ever you may have to say."' 
" I don't mean that I 
am going to describe it, 
now, even in brief. But 
I just want to give you a 
little glimpse of a country 
which has no equal, in 
hardly anything, in my 
estimation — just a little 
tele s C O p i C v i e w , s o to 
speak." 

" I'm. all attention, sir 
— ypur information is tar 
more precious than my 
time, really." 

" In the first place, there 
is no other portion of the 
globe that can compete 
with California in scenic 
attractions. Its Yosemite 
Valley stands alone, and no 
one who has ever visited 
it pretends t<» claim that it 
SCENE i\ the frenx'H QUARTER of new ORLEANS. has an equal in the world; 




14 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



while the majesty of its mountains and the grandeur of its waterfalls have 
inspired the pens of the most brilliant writers of the times. Its groves of giant 
trees, which tower up three or four hundred feet into the sky, from trunks an 
hundred feet in circumference, can be found in no other spot upon the earth, 
and cannot be faithfully described ; while its emerald lakes, which sparkle upon 
the summits of its Sierra like gems upon a diadem, are unsurpassed in beauty and 
picturesqueness. It is the incomparable climate of the Golden State and the 
prodigality of its rich soil, however, which impart to it so much supremacy, and 
hold out such gracious inducements to tourists and seekers after new homes. It 
is truly a land flowing with milk and honey, where every man may erect a 
domestic altar under his own vine and fig tree. It is a land which produces all 
the fruits and vegetables known to northern and semi-tropical countries, and where 
the exhalations of fragrant floral glories and aromatic dainties perfume the 
atmosphere the year round. No other state or section of country anywhere 
presents such an extraordinary combination of climatic circumstances favorable to 
the permanent abode of man. There is no winter in its valleys, which, in their 
proportions, put to blush those watered by the river Po ; there is no unlocking of 
icy fastenings such as imprison not only the flowers and fruits and birds of less 
favored sections, but mankind, itself ; for the winters, and much of the weather 
the year round, partake of that delightful interlude known as Indian summer 
here in the east. The prettiest and most effective thing that can be said in 
this connection is the statement of the fact that a laboring man may work in 
his shirt sleeves every day in the year and sleep under blankets every night ! 
That's an apostrophe to climate, isn't it ? " 

" Well, I should smile, Colonel, if you will kindly pardon my little slang." 

" Certainly ; there is a good deal of 
so-called slang that is very felicitous and 
often exceedingly expressive. I should 
smile, myself, very audibly, if the same 
could be said of any other country. 



There is Florida, for instance. How 
would you like to work in your 
shirt sleeves during some of the 
winter weather they have there ? 
And how do you think you would 
feel under blankets some of those 
tough summer nights, eh ? " 

" I don't think I should smile 
so serenely " 




ANTE-BELLUM REMINISCENCES 



TO ' THE GOLD EX GA TE. 1 5 

"Your smile would be very sickly, I can assure you — I have been there." 

" I am fully aware of the fact that you know what you are talking- about, 
and I anticipate several months of great enjoyment in California." 

"You will enjoy every minute; .and I will go with you, in a few days, or 
meet you in New Orleans at a given time." 

''How will you go to New Orleans?" 




NEW ORLEANS. — SPANISH FORT, NEAR LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. 



"Really, I am very partial to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, and then 
from Louisville by way of Memphis, Vicksburg and Baton Rouge. It's a delightful 
route, and many historic points are- to be seen." 

"Well, Colonel, I am indebted tb you for a nice lunch and, for what is a 
great deal better, much delightful information." 

" Don't mention it, my boy." 

" I suppose we shall sec you at the house in a day or two can't vou 
come around to-morrow evening ? " 

"Yes; I will come, without fail — you may just tell your father and Mrs. 



1 6 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



Rowan that I will surely call to-morrow evening ; and that I shall come prepared, 
like their family physician, to put my foot down ; and that I shall expect to 
join them in perfecting arrangements for our trip to California by the Sunset 
Route of the Southern Pacific Company. Good evening." 
"Good evening, sir." 

FROM NEW ORLEANS TO SAN ANTONIO. 

Just two weeks after the preceding dialogue, Colonel King, Mr. and Mrs. 
Walter Row r an, and their son and two daughters, were comfortably seated in a 
Pullman, and w r ere twenty miles on their way from New Orleans to San Francisco, 
via the Sunset Route of the Southern Pacific Company. The Misses Georgie and 
Gussie Rowan were chatting about where they had been and what they had seen 
in the Crescent City — among which may be enumerated the Custom House, French 
Quarter, French Market, Jackson Square and Statue, French Cathedral, Chalmette, 
with its cemetery of Federal graves and the unfinished monument to Andrew 
Jackson, the hero of the battle of New Orleans ; the Hotel Royal, in whose 
parlors there have been given receptions to such distinguished men as Henry 
Clay, Martin Van Buren, and Andrew Jackson ; the Lee Monument and the 
monument which perpetuates the heroic deeds of the brave Louisianians who 
died in the Confederate service ; the Clay and Franklin Statues, the house in 
which Jackson was tried for contempt of court, 219 and 221 Royal Street; West 
End and Spanish Fort, and other places of interest in the city ; down the 
Mississippi River, and out upon the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and Lake 
Pontchartrain. These girls, while reviewing their pleasures of sight-seeing in New 
Orleans, seemed to be the most impressed with the cemeteries ; which, owing to 
the system of intramural burial, are among the points possessing infinite interest 
to strangers. Certainly, they are very attractive and very impressive, and are at 
once absolutely unique and beautiful ; and, as one views these miniature marble 
palaces, arranged with wide avenues between, and shaded with stately magnolias, 
the expression "city of the dead" imparts a newer and more appropriate meaning. 

Mr. Rowan and his son, who had made a run down to the Jetties, accompanied 
by Colonel King, were in ecstacies over the wonderful work and the panorama of 
plantations to be seen upon either side of the Mississippi River. This is one of 
the most popular excursions with all who visit New Orleans. The trip down 
is made entirely in daylight. The boat leaves the wharf, generally, at half-past 
nine, and reaches the head of the Jetties at half-past two. The run from there 
down to a point below Port Eads occupies about an hour. After the steamer 
gets well into the narrow lane of yellow water of the South Pass, tourists 



TO • THE GOLD EX GA TE. 



17 



crowd upon the upper decks and clamor for a sight of the Jetties, and can hardly 
realize that the swift rolling river is flowing- between two deep walls of willow 
and rocky mattresses, but which are hidden entirely out of sight by the water, 
save here and there where a stray willow switch, dipping and tilting in the 

wind, marks the line of the mattresses. 
Nowhere in the South is the scenery 
more thoroughly southern and 
Ljrffe^J^ more truly characteristic than 
between New Orleans and the 
Gulf. Below Chalmette, where 
the Union Hag floats over the 
thousands of grass}- mounds, 
the plantation houses become 
a n d t h e 

negro quarters become minia- 
ture villages. I V* .., * : \ | W V- P Some of the finest and wealth- 
iest planta- 
tions in the 
State lie below 
New Orleans, 
as well as . h un- 
ci reds of o r ange 
groves, where thou 
sands of the trim, stiff- £ 



1 o c k i 

trees are set out in nice 
precision. 

The first question 
asked the Colonel was 
the one generally pro- 
pounded to the conductor, and related to distance, of course: "How 
from New Orleans to San Francisco?" came from the rub}' lips ol Mi 

"Now, girls," responded Colonel King, "ask me questions every 
you wish to. I pride myself upon being able to answer all kinds of conundrums 
relating to our trip, and I shall make it my pleasure to present you all with 
much other information, and at random point out many places ol interest along 
our way. First, I will answer Gussie's question- it is 2,495 miles from New 
Orleans to San Francisco — and then I will give you each a new folder lately 
issued by the Southern Pacific Company, in which there is a tine map and many 




PRODUCTS OF LOUISIANA. 



11' IS it 

( russie. 

if 



i8 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



other things of interest to the transcontinental traveler. But, that isn't all: — 
I have been doing a little artistic business myself." 
" In what way?" 

" I will show you : I have quietly taken the map of the Southern Pacific 
folder, and drawn four little maps, showing the railway over which we are 
to travel, in sections, and dotting each, here and there, with what seem to me 
to be the principal places or other objects of interest along the route. For 
instance : — the first map, as you will observe, indicates the line of travel between 




New Orleans and San Antonio — which is 577 miles — and presents points and 
places of interest upon which even the average traveler desires information." 

" I think that's real hateful of you, Colonel King, so I do," exclaimed 
Georgie, with what seemed to be a prodigious pout of a very pretty little mouth. 

" Hateful ! " repeated Mrs. Rowan, with real surprise ; " why, my child, what 
do you mean ? " 

" The Colonel looked right at me when he used the words average trav- 
eler, so he did, and I know he alluded to me — I'm not an average traveler." 

" That's so," said Tommie, at which all laughed, and Colonel King pro- 
ceeded : 

" We are now in one of the richest and most fertile sections of country 
in America, or, even in the world ; where cotton, tobacco, corn, rice and sugar 
are extensively produced, and where nearly all the vegetables and fruits known 
to civilization are cultivated with success and mature with much less care and 
labor than are bestowed upon them in most of the other states. While it is 
true that the large planters of Louisiana are engaged almost exclusively in the 
growing of sugar, cotton, rice, and forage necessary for their work animals, 
these princely establishments are confined to the alluvial region, and the farmers 
in the uplands, prairie and pine-woods, take advantage of the native pastures, 
nuts, fruits and roots, and raise cattle, sheep, hogs and a few horses and mules, 
in addition to field crops. Corn and sugar cane are cultivated only with the 
plow or cultivator, in rows from four to seven feet apart. They should be 



TO: THE GOLDEX GATE. 



19 



plowed three times, although good corn is made by once plowing out in rich 
land. Corn is planted from the fourteenth of February to the first of March, 
sugar cane either in the fall or spring; cane requires only one planting in 
three years; cotton is also planted in rows, from the twentieth of March to 
the first of May ; cotton is thinned to a stand by one hoeing, and plowed 
about three times. The lands of Louisiana will yield from twenty-five to fifty 
bushels of corn, from one to two bales of cotton, and from one to three 




SPECIMEN ILLUSTRATION OF ONE OF A THOUSAND PLANTATIONS WHICH MAY BE SEEN ALONG 
THE LINE OF THE SUNSET ROUTE IN LOUISIANA. 



hogsheads of sugar per acre. Rice is extensively cultivated, and will yield from 
thirty to seventy-five bushels per acre, worth from $45 to Si 15. In the lowlands 
rice is sown broadcast and irrigated; in the highlands it is drilled in rows two 
or three feet apart, and cultivated with a plow or cultivator. It is sometimes 
cut by machinery and threshed like wheat, and is harvested in August. Oats 
do well all over the State. Wheat is confined to Northwestern Louisiana. 

Sugar cane is very easily grown, but the cost of machinery is great, and it 



20 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



requires a large capital to build and operate a mill. Small fanners sell their 
cane to central mills for four or five dollars per ton (2,000 pounds); twenty tons 
is a fair crop per acre, but thirty tons and over are sometimes made. Sugar- 
making commences about the middle of October and continues about three 
months. Cotton-picking commences in August and lasts till January. It is 
light, clean work, and women and children pick as well as men. The price 
paid for picking is generally one cent a pound. A quick hand will pick more 
than 200 pounds per day. Very fine tobacco is raised in several counties; it is 
called pcriquc tobacco, and sells readily for one dollar per pound. Three cut- 
tings can be made a year, giving an enormous yield. Louisiana is situated 
in the southwestern part of the United States, between the parallels of 28° 50' 
and 33 north latitude, and between the meridians 88° 40' and 94 10' west 
from Greenwich. It is bounded on the north by Arkansas and Mississippi, on 
parallels 33 and 31°, east by Mississippi, south by the Gulf of Mexico, and 
west by Texas ; the Mississippi and Pearl rivers forming the boundary line on 
the east, and the Sabine river on the west. The Mississippi river winds through 
the State and empties into the Gulf of Mexico, 105 miles south of New Orleans. 
The bar at the mouth of the Mississippi river was a serious obstacle to the 
vast commerce of this port until the triumph of the jetty system opened a 
channel to the depth of thirty feet. The largest ships now pass through without 
detention up to the city of New Orleans, where they both deliver and receive 
their cargoes directly at the wharf, or levee." 

" There is quite a good deal of pretty scenery in Louisiana, isn't there, 
Colonel?" asked Mrs. Rowan. 

" Its scenery is by far the most varied and attractive in the South, espe- 
cially up and down its bayous and rivers— indeed, as you may see for yourself, 
the whole country through which we are passing, from the Mississippi river to 
the Sabine, seems more like an immense garden, dotted here and there with 
pretty homes, than anything else." 

"Hasn't Joe Jefferson, the actor, got a nice place here, somewhere?" 
inquired young Rowan. 

" Yes ; on Orange Island, on bayou Teche — generally known as the Teche 
country ; which is one of the most bewitching places in the South. Many call 
it Jefferson island ; it is separated from the alluvial soil of Louisiana by wide 
marshes, laced with little sluggish bayous, and from the summits of the hills 
adjacent one can look away to the south and behold the cerulean waters of 
the Gulf of Mexico. Near the house there is a magnificent forest of oaks, 
and a little way off the crowning beauty in the shape of a lake, about a mile 
in length and half that distance in width, lying in the midst of soft hills, 



TO- THE GOLD EX GATE. 



2 I 



whose grass-clad sides slope smoothly down to its edges, where huge live oaks 
dip their long gray locks of Spanish moss into the water. One end of the 
lake is thickly set with lotus plants. The white lotus, you know, is a native 
of Louisiana, and it was in full bloom during the summer just past. A sheet 
of splendid white flowers blossomed amid the emerald cup-like pads, and the light 
cool breeze that rippled the lake each August evening fluttered their myriads of 
snowy petals in a fairy-like way. There are a great many just as pretty places 




SCKNK ON IJAYOU TKL'II K, LOUISIANA. 



in this section of Louisiana, however, and opportunities for thousands more." 
It was nearly 10 o'clock at night when Colonel King concluded, and an 

hour later all had turned into their respective berths, as the train slowed up 
near Morgan City, So miles from New Orleans. Lafayette, near which runs the 
Vermillion river, is 144 miles from the Crescent City, and lias railroad connection 
with .Alexandria. Forty miles west is the Mementau lake and river, navigable 
for 60 miles; 30 miles furtlur west are the Calcasien lake and river, navigable 
for 100 miles ; and 30 miles still further west are the Sabine lake and 



22 



FROM THE CRESCEXT CITY 



river, navigable for 300 miles. These streams all have their source south of the 
Red river water-shed, which extends from Northern Texas, in a southeast 



coast, and are also of nearly equal area, the four embracing about 360 square 
miles. There are numerous other smaller lakes within the borders of this tract 
of land. The Sabine river delineates the boundary between Louisiana and Texas, 
and is crossed at Orange, 256 miles from New Orleans. Beaumont, Texas, is 
22 miles further, from which there are railroad connections north with Rock- 
land, and south with Sabine Pass. At Liberty, 42 miles west of Beaumont, 
the Trinity river is crossed, which flows through a very rich section of country. 
Houston, 361 miles from New Orleans, is situated in the heart of a most 
productive section of country, and is connected with the Gulf by Buffalo bayou, 
and with Austin, Galveston, Shreveport, Bastrop, Albany, and all portions of 
Northern and Northeastern Texas by rail. 

It was an ideal Texas morning when our party arrived at Houston, and 
all were in the best of spirits. ' Gussie was the first to address Colonel King, 
and said: "So, we are now in the biggest state in the Union, aren't we?" 

"Yes;" replied the Colonel, "and one of the richest and grandest in the 
Union. I long ago saw the possibilities of the Lone Star State, but its popu- 
lation and its progress have advanced far beyond my prognostications, and 
exceeded my most sanguine expectations. Houston has a population of 30,000 
at present, and is a place of much activity and prosperity. There is a diver- 




A LOUISIANA BAYOU. 



direction to the gulf, at a point 
west of the Mississippi delta, 
100 miles from New Orleans. 
This region is thus absolutely 
protected from the floods of 
the Mississippi river and its 
tributaries. The four rivers 
named, which pass through this 
region, having their sources in 
and courses through, a flat 
country, have a gradual and 
moderate rise an/i fall, on ac- 
count of rain storms. The four 
principal lakes in this region — 
Sabine, Calcasien, Mermentau, 
and White — are nearly equi- 
distant from each other and 
nearly on a line with the Gulf 



TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 23 

sifiecl country lying" between Houston and San Antonio, much of which — the 
Brazos river country — is probably the richest in the world, and commences at 
or near Stafford's, 21 miles west of Houston, and extends to Richmond, 13 
miles; and you will observe a great; many extensive sugar plantations and mills 
upon either side of the road as we are whirled along between the two towns 
I have just named. Leaving Richmond we traverse a most healthful, well- 
watered and productive country, 150 miles in extent, made up of forest, prairie, 




SCENE l\ EASTERN TEXAS A I.OMI Till'. LINE OE THE SCNSET ROUTE. 



and bottom lands, where corn, cotton, wheat, and all vegetables and fruits are 
raised in abundance. There are also a number of pretty and prosperous tonus 
between Houston and San Antonio, among which air I'circe junction, 371 miles 
from New Orleans; Rosenberg junction, on the Brazos river, 398 miles from 
New Orleans; Eagle lake, 431 ; Columbus, 447; Sehulcnburg, 47-; llarwood, 
510; lading, 519; Kingsburg, 531 ; Seguin, 541; Marion. 552, and Converse, 564 
miles from New Orleans, and [3 from San Antonio." 

San Antonio (577 miles from the Crescent City) is reached in about 22 



2 4 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



hours, and here large numbers of tourists stop over for a day or two. It has a 
population of about 30,000, and is one of the oldest and one of the most interesting- 
cities on the American continent; containing, as it does, much that is beautiful, 
grand and thrilling in reminiscent . history. Our own party had unanimously 
agreed to lay over 48 hours at San Antonio, and enjoy the exquisite sunshine 
and lovely surroundings of this highly-romantic place — so long an outpost of 
Western civilization. Its winter climate is equable and inviting, and it is getting 
to be a resort for many who dislike Florida, but who cannot make it con- 
venient to go so far from their homes as California. There are a number of 
very good hotels in San Antonio ; and there are also - libraries, churches, news- 
papers, and many of the other attractions which go- to make a perfect city, 
such as clubs, stores, gardens, theatre, casino, etc. The greatest of all the 
attractions, next to its climate, however, are its missions. San Antonio was 
itself a mission. A poor little village called San Fernandez in 1698, it was 
deemed best to remove thither from the Rio Grande the mission of San 
Antonio de Valero, in execution of a plan still further to settle and civilize 
Texas, and thus to repress the encroachments of the French, who, under the 
pretensions of La Salle's brief occupancy, were always laying claim to it. 
Thenceforth the mission was known as that of San Antonio de Bexar, from the 
name of the province, Bexar being an immense section of territory then com- 
prising nearly all of Northwestern Texas, attached to the Intendancy of San 
Luis Potosi. The population of the town was increased by a royal importation 
of families from the Canary islands and from Tlaxcala, and during the following 
half century the missions of La Purissima, Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan and 
La Espada were built down the river, each a few miles from the other, and 
the Alamo was begun on the left bank just behind the town. These were 
posts partly religious, partly defensive, founded by the Franciscans, to whom 
some five square leagues were given for the purpose, and who induced the 
milder Indians to cultivate the rich lands, improve their own condition, and 
enlarge the revenues of the Church, without any doubt performing a great work 
of civilization. The buildings of the missions usually consisted of a noble church 
at one end of the square, a fort at the other, the apartments of the friars, 
the huts of the laborers, the granaries and storehouses distributed between, all 
of massive stone, and inclosed behind a high wall completing the whole as a 
fortress, which was, indeed, necessary, subject as it was to the incursions of 
the fierce Northern Indians. 

The first place visited by Colonel King and the Rowans was the Alamo, 
in the heart of the town. 

' ; I think I have read of the Alamo," said one of the young ladies, to 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 



25 



Colonel King, who was 



on duty in San Antonio as a lieutenant upon the 
late civil war; "it is the place where Travis, Bowie, and 



breaking out of our 
Davy Crockett died 
so bravely, isn't it ? " 

"Yes," answered 
the Colonel, " and 
there isn't a more 
thrilling chapter in 
American history 
than this same tragic 
story of the Alamo. 
I will read it to 
you in brief from a 
charming little bro- 
chure called Eden : 
But the great fight 
of the Alamo, that 
which has immortal- 
ized it with the bat- 
tles of the world, 
took place when 
Santa Ana advanced 
upon it with all the 
machinery of war at 
Mexico's command. 
From the outset 
there was no hope 
within the walls, and 
the little garrison 
there made up their 
minds to their fate; 
indeed, one of them, 
Colonel Bonham, 
sent out to seek re- 
inforcements, came 

back alone, although he knew it was t<> die. heroically, as Regulus returned to 
Carthage. There were 144 men in tin- Alamo; Santa Ana's troops, at first esti- 
mated at 1,500, were presently increased to 4,000; they were the flower of the 
Mexican soldiery, commanded by officers of matchless skill and daring, many of 




s \ \ INTONIO RIVER, 



26 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



whom loathed the work required of them. But Santa Ana, who styled himself 
the Napoleon of the West, left no foes to rise behind him ; his policy was the 
policy of extermination. The town of San Antonio was already his ; the blood- 
red flag flapped from the cathedral, and the fortress was summoned to surrender 
and throw itself upon Mexican mercy. What that mercy was can be imagined 
from the subsequent fate of those who capitulated with the brave, impetuous 
Fannin at Goliad, under all the forms and articles of war, and with promise of 
speedy release, only to receive orders, one Sunday, when they were singing 
'Sweet Home,' to march out in double file under guard, suddenly halted when 
half a mile from the fort, the guard wheeling and firing upon them till they 
fell, betrayed and butchered in cold blood. ' This day, Palm Sunday,' writes a 
Mexican officer of the massacre, * has been to me a day of most heart-felt sorrow. 
At six in the morning the execution of 412 American prisoners was commenced, 
and continued till eight, when the last of the number was shot. At eleven 
commenced the operation of burning their bodies. But what an awful scene did 
the field present, when the prisoners were executed and fell dead in heaps, and 
what spectator could view it without horror! They were all young, the oldest 
not more than thirty, and of fine florid complexions. When the unfortunate 
youths were brought to the place of death, their lamentations and the appeals 
which they uttered to Heaven in their own language, with extended arms, 
kneeling or prostrate on the earth, were such as might have caused the very 
stones to cry out in compassion.' Travis and his men had no mind for such 
mercy. Shut up in the Alamo, this was the proclamation of that superb 
leader : ' I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible, and die like a 
soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his 
country. Victory or death.' This splendid death-cry was unheard. The call 
was neglected. No help came. Santa Ana surrounded the place on all 
sides with intrenched encampments, and kept up a cannonade for ten days, 
many times attempting to scale the walls, but always repulsed with slaughter — 
1,500 of his men, it is said, falling before the unerring Texas rifle. At mid- 
night of the thirteenth day the storming party was ordered to the assault for 
the last time, the reluctant infantry pricked on by cavalry in the rear, amidst 
the roar of artillery and the volleys of musketry, the trumpet sounding the 
dreadful notes of the dcquclo, signifying no quarter. Twice they made the 
attempt in vain, and recoiled, only to be urged on for the third time by the 
irresistible cordon behind them ; the third time they mounted the walls and 
fell to their bloody work. It was short and terrible. As Travis stood on an 
angle of the northern wall, cheering the fearless spirits behind him, a ball struck 
his forehead, and he fell ; a Mexican officer rushed forward to dispatch him, 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 



27 



but he died on the point of Travis' 
sword as that hero breathed his last. 
And with that the indiscriminate 
slaughter began, man to man, of the 
little force that, worn out with the 
task of repelling attacks and manning 
works that required five times their 
number, with sleeplessness and thirst, 
and without time to reload their pieces, 
fought with their knives and the 
stocks of their rifles till no soul 
of the desperate band was lett alive. 
Death and Santa Ana held the place. 
The Alcade of San Antonio, sum- 
moned before the conqueror, pointed 
out to him Travis on the wall with 
the bullet in his forehead, Bowie 
butchered in his cell where he lay 






OLD MISSION Cm-RCHKS NF.\R S \ V ANTONIO, 



on his sick-bed, Evans 
shot in the act of 
blowing up the mag- 
azine, and Davy 
Crockett lying dead 
with a circle of 
slay g h tered t' < > e s 
around him. ( >n the 
shaft erected t<> the 
heroes runs a legend 
whose eloquence 
makes t he heart stand 
still : ' Thermopylae 

had its messenger of 
defeat, the Alamo 

had none.' " 

" That is, indeed, 

a thrilling account," 
said Mrs. R o wan, 



28 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



when the Colonel had concluded ; 41 and I am glad we have had an opportunity 
of seeing- the place made so famous by deeds of American chivalry and valor.' 4 
The party then examined the ruins of the Alamo, and adjoining grounds, 
with great interest ; and, after purchasing some photographs from the ex-Con- 
federate soldier in charge, meandered in other directions — and it is hardly 
necessary to state that the Rowans were highly delighted with the famous old 
town and its many consecrated objects, and, in fact, with everything in and about 
San Antonio — so much so that they tarried four days instead' of two — to 
the great satisfaction of Colonel King, however, who remained at the post 
during that time as the guest of General Stanley, the commandan, :; — the two 
having served bravely in the Mexican war, and having distinguished themselves 
during the rebellion, much of the time as general officers in the dear, old, 
never-to-be-forgotten, Army of the Cumberland. 

FROM SAN ANTONIO TO EL PASO. 

The train carrying our party westward had barely got outside of the limits 
of San Antonio, when Mr. Rowan quietly nudged Colonel King, and said 
"Don't forget your little maps." 

But the old army officer had anticipated his friend, and had already un- 
packed the second parcel of miniature maps for distribution, showing an abbre- 




viated line from San Antonio to El Paso, with its principal towns and rivers, 
and the location of the Grand Canon of the Rio Grande, one of the most 
thrilling and magnificent pieces of sccneiy to be witnessed along any railway in 
the world — and pronounced by many globe-trotters " the grandest picture of 
them all! " 

Quite a silence followed the distribution of the maps, which was broken by 
Gussie asking if Texas wasn't twice as large as New York; and which elicited 
the following from the Colonel: 



TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 29 

" Twice as large ! It is nearly three times as large, my dear girl. It con- 
tains 113,000 square miles, is more than twice as large as England, with its 
24,000,000 inhabitants, and is nearly three times as large as New York or Kentucky. 
It comprises twenty counties, each nearly as large as Rhode Island ; sixteen 
that are larger and four that are nearly twice as large as the State of Massa- 
chusetts. These counties are Fort Bend, Wharton, Colorado, Fayette, Lavacca, 
Bastrop, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Dewitt, Gonzales, Wilson, Bexar, Medina, Uvalde, 
Kinney, Val Verde, Crockett, Pecos, Presidio and El Paso, and they are situated 
along the line of the Southern Pacific Company, between Houston and El Paso. 
There are a good many cities and villages, with splendid schools and churches 
already established, which offer good markets for all of the products of the 
country. It is a region of fertile valleys, timbered hills and broad plains, which, 
equally rich with the countries and States mentioned, and far surpassing them in 
point of climate, and equally well watered, is equally able to maintain a popula- 
tion as great as an)' of them, and is therefore abundantly capable of sustaining 
the whole present population of the United States within its borders. \\ 'hat a 
vast amount of real and prospective wealth here lies open to the enterprise and 
industry of the farmer, stockman, shepherd, fruit grower, dairyman, artisan, mer- 
chant and capitalist ! Nor is this region surpassed in its wealth of soil, its rich 
herbage, its valuable timber and precious minerals, by its breadth and length ; for, 
from the sea coast to the far western boundary, it has already cultivated farms 
and pastures upon a thousand hills, rich bottom lands covered in places with valu- 
able forests bordering to great rivers and innumerable tributaries, and rich pasture 
fields waiting for herds and flocks, or for the plows of a million farmers to break 
up the rich, deep black soil. I consider Texas as the poor man's paradise, where 
a pleasant home for the farmer may be made or secured with small capital ; a 
promise of wealth to the young man who comes hither to grow up with the 
•Country; and it offers comfort and competence to the mechanic and artisan. No 
man need wait to accumulate means to make a start. There are cleared farms 
waiting for tenants; farms which, before the war, wire cultivated by slave labor, 
and are now divided into convenient homesteads. There are opportunities for 
renting these for a portion of the crops until the farmers are able to purchase 
farms of their own, or to settle upon a tract of public or railroad Kind. There 
are colonies established in various places in which the new settler has the benefit 
of association, by which a small capital secures advantages that cm only be had 
by much larger means otherwise. There are cleared farms and homesteads to be 
purchased outright, and there is a vast scope of new land which can be purchased 
from the State and from the Southern Pacific Company, in small tracts or large 
blocks for colonies, farming or grazing. Along this line of road can be found 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



, t of the United States that ean 
nearly every product of h ^ ^ takcn 

be raised from the so ^ ^ fa tQ decide 

what he would like b.. for ^ 

the section where nature has fitted P 

him. Probably in 

the whole history 
of western emi- 
gration, there has 





A MATCHLESS 



RIDE THROUG 



;H THE GRAND 



, *OF T H r R ,0 GRANDE, TEXAS. 



TO " THE GOLD EX GATE. 3: 

never yet been a more favorable opportunity of gaining a new home, and of 
reaching it quickly and comfortably, as many sections of Texas affords." 

"Its climate, too, is generally moderate, is it not?" inquired Mr. Rowan. 

"Yes; Texas, on the whole, has, a superior all-t he-year-round climate. It is 
not so equable or so generally acceptable as the climate of California. But it 
is extremely healthful ; and its really cold and disagreeable days during the 
winter months may be counted on your two hands. But its soil and its climate 
is not all, as you will declare after you have passed through the Grand Canon, 
which we shall reach early to-morrow morning : " — after which the party separated 
for the night. 

All were up with the lark, so to speak, the following morning ; and were 
informed by the Colonel that, while much of the country between San Antonio 
and Devil's river ( 1 86 miles) through which they had passed during the night, 
was susceptible of a high order of cultivation, the greater part of it was given 
up to grazing, generally, and the pasturing of wild-looking cattle with long horns. 

" Spofford Junction," continued the Colonel, "/II miles from New Orleans, 
134 from San Antonio, and 498 from El Paso, is an important point of the 
Southern Pacific, and is connected with Eagle Pass and other Mexican towns 
by the Mexican International Railway ; eight miles north is Fort Clark, an 
eleven-company post. Del Rio, 37 miles further west, contains a population of 
about 1,200, and is a rich dot in the area hereabouts, having nearly 500 acres 
in vines. About a mile from Del Rio are two springs from which flow 6o : ooo 
gallons per minute." 

Four miles west of Del Rio the tourist catches the first glimpse of the 
Rio Grande; three miles further is the mouth of the Grand Canon, on the bank 
of the romantic river which geographically separates Mexico ami the United 
States; five miles further, and the mouth of Devil's river is reached, and the 
train majestically enters Devil's River Canon and proceeds between three and 
four miles to the crossing of said river on an iron bridge of five spans of 150 
feet each. This stream is full of trout, and takes its rise in Heaver lake, 60 
miles northwest, where there is much pretty mountain and forest scenery. 
Immediately after crossing the Devil's river, the mouth of Painted Cave cavern 
is reached, and a rolling prairie country, framed in the Devil's river mountains, 
is seen on the right, and the Santa Rosa mountains ol Mexico on the left, 
60 miles away. The tourist now ascends an undulating plain to the divide 
between the Devil's river and the Pecos, 11 miles west of the head of Painted 
Cave creek; after which a gradual descent is made of 20 miles, to the Rio 
Grande, which is intersected at a point five miles east or below the Rio Pecos, 
with vertical limestone walls on each side, from 250 to 300 feet in height ; and 



32 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



the tourist is treated to a scenic and engineering paradox of traveling a long 
distance up the river on a down grade. Two miles further west the train 
enters a tunnel 1,426 feet in length and 75 feet above the water line, emerging 
from which it moves along for several miles upon a wonderful piece of shelving 
cut out of the great limestone bluff overhanging the river and about 60 feet 
above it. This is one of the grandest pieces of railroad travel in the world, 
and is very beautiful and very impressive for quite a distance. Two miles west 
of the tunnel is Painted Cave Siding, on the right of which is the monstrous 
cavern from which the siding takes its name, an illustration of which is pre- 
sented upon the following page. This cavern has been hewn out of solid rock 
by the Great Architect, and is frescoed all over with pictures and hieroglyphics 
by some unknown aboriginal master of art. The cavern contains an area equal 
to an acre, and was for many years a stronghold of the Comanche Indians, the 
bravest of American redskins. One mile beyond, and the Pecos is crossed at its 
confluence with the Rio Grande, and which is shown in the combination engraving 
on page 30. 

" There are few grander places upon the American continent," said Colonel 
King, after a long silence; "it is a panorama which forever photographs itself 
upon one's mind." 

" I am already repaid for coming by the Sunset Route," exclaimed Mr. 
Rowan ; " I never dreamed of such a railroad ride." 

" And we are greatly indebted to you, Colonel King, I can assure you," 
added the wife. 

And the young people declared that the Grand Canon of the Rio Grande 
alone was worth a trip across the continent to see. Indeed, all upon the train 
were in a state of ecstacy ; and Colonel King continued : 

" There is no other place in the world where a railway train meanders a 
stream of water hundreds of feet above its turbulent surface for many miles upon 
a shelf hewn out of solid rock. These walls, which you may see for a long 
distance up and down the river, were accessible only to Indians until reached 
by the engineers of the Sunset Route, who were compelled to construct a 
wagon road along a line once attempted but abandoned by the Government." 

" We are ascending again, now, aren't we, Colonel ? " asked Georgie. 

" Yes ; we have been ascending at the rate of 52 feet to the mile, since 
we crossed the Pecos river bridge, which is 60 feet above the river, and has 
one span of 225 feet, and two of 175 feet each. Three miles west of 
Pecos river we shall cross another iron bridge, of a single span of 320 feet, 
the longest single span upon the road. Just west of this is a tunnel 1,500 
feet in length, and some two miles beyond we shall leave the river and soon 




scr.\i;s ix mi; c,u.\xi> ca:;h\ of tiik rio am.i , i i \ \-. 



TO- THE GOLD EX GATE. 35 

with very many handsome mountain views upon the Mexican side and the Pecos 
mountains away off in the northwest. In the neighborhood of Sanderson, 895 
miles from New Orleans; Haymond, 940 miles, and Valentine, 1,050, there are 
extensive grazing tracts; and from Sierra Blanca, 1, 1 18 miles from New Orleans 
and 91 from El Paso, as far west as San Elizario and Ysleta, there are many 
vineyards under cultivation." 

" It must have taken a great deal of time and a vast expenditure of money 
to have accomplished such a work as we have just seen," observed Mr. Rowan. 

" Yes," replied the Colonel ; " there are eighteen miles of canon and 
approaches cut out of solid rock, upon which 3,000 men were engaged night 
and day for a year and a half. Much of the work was performed on ladders 
suspended from overhanging altitudes at points from 150 to 200 feet above the 
grade in the heart of the canon, at an expense of $100,000 a mile." 

" \\ nat is the highest elevation between New Orleans and El Paso?" asked 
young Rowan, of the Colonel. 

" The highest elevation is at Paisano, a point between Murphysville and Marfa, 
about 200 miles east of El Paso. It is also the highest along the entire route 
between New Orleans and San Erancisco — 5,082 feet, which is 468 feet higher 
than the crossing of Dragoon Summit (Arizona), 4,614 feet, and [,118 feet higher 
than the summit of Tehachepi (California), which is 3,964 feet. At Langtry 
the elevation is 1,320 feet; Sanderson, 2,780; Haymond, 3,883; Sierra Blanca, 
4,512; Camp Rice, 3,564; Ysleta, 3.654, and El Paso, 3,713." 

Our friends found much to interest them in El Paso, where they remained 
24 hours. El Paso is a place that will please any one, if only on account of 
its picturcsqueness and quaintness. It contains about 3,000 inhabitants, and is 
situated directly upon the bank of the Rio Grande, which is about 250 yards 
wide at this point. Across the river lies the old town of Paso del Norte in 
the Republic of Mexico. The two places are connected by a tramway called 
International, and said to be the only instance oi an International tramway. 
The United States Territory of New Mexico commences about one* mile above 
the town on the west side, but the State of Texas extends up nineteen miles 
on the east side. The town is lighted by gas and electricity, has water works 
and an ice factor}-, and six hotels tin- best, or among the best, being the Pierson 
House. The Mexican Central Railroad has its American terminus .it this point, 
.and is in successful operation to tin- City <>l" Mexico. Paso del Norte is a 
good deal quainter than its neighbor, and is thoroughly Mexican in every way. 

Its streets are crooked and irregular, un paved and sandy; and the houses are 
all constructed of adobe (sun-burnt bricks). The objective point of all visitors 
is the old church, which has stood unharmed for nearly three hundred years, 



36 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



and is one of those edifices which stand out here and there all along- this former 
Spanish domain, and mark the progress of the Franciscan Brotherhood and the 
power and influence of their system of religious teaching and moulding at all 
inviting points upon the southwestern frontier. There are a great many vineyards 
and orchards and gardens extending down the river from Paso del Norte, all of 
which are watered by means of artificial irrigation, there being hundreds of miles 
of ditches, or canals, interesting each other in all directions, which receive their 
supply from the never-failing, but sometimes uncontrollable, Rio Grande. The 
mountain views which are presented in both countries enchant and impress — the 
Organ. Sacramento, Blanco, and other ranges upon the American side, and the 
San Bias, Portrillos, Candelaria, and other spurs of the serrated Cordilleras on 
the Mexican. The Misses Rowan, in particular, permitted no historical or other 
object to escape them, and wrote a number of letters to eastern friends from the 
funny old adobe town, which awoke one morning not long since and found itself 
famous on account of its having an American editor in durance vile. 

FROM EL PASO TO LOS ANGELES. 

" You will observe," remarked Colonel King, as he drew forth a fresh 
package of maps and distributed them among his friends, just before the train 
started from El Paso, "that my next delineation takes us from El Paso 
to Los Angeles — the metropolis of Southern California — and that we shortly 
leave Texas, and pass into and through New Mexico, through Arizona, and 
well up into California — a distance of 803 miles in all ; it being 88 miles 




from El Paso to Deming (New Mexico), and 307 to Tucson, and 565: 
to Yuma (Arizona); the distance from Yuma to Los Angeles being 238 
miles, or 803 miles in all — which is 2,012 miles from New Orleans and 483 
from San Francisco ; the entire distance between New Orleans and 
San Francisco being 2,495 miles. We shall cross the Rio Grande in a few 
minutes, and the Colorado at Yuma. We shall leave the sinuous ways of the 



TO' THE GOLD EX GATE. 37 

Rio Grande in about an hour and enter upon the vast plains of New Mexico, 
where cattle and sheep and horses pasture the year round, with only the great 

dome of heaven for a roof. When we arrive at Deming, 
which is the. most important railroad point in southern 
New Mexico, I want you to be sure and observe the 
mountains at all points of the compass, some summits of 
which may be plainly seen nearly a hundred miles away. 
There is no place on the globe that I have visited where 
the sun shines so steadily, and where the stars glitter so 
brilliantly, as in New Mexico and Arizona. How main- 
times, indeed, have I slept upon the plains in these two 
territories and gazed up at the constellations and watched 
the diamond-bestudded heavens until carried off into dream- 
land by their bewitching scintillations, and placidly imprison- 
ed until the morning star flung its incomparable splendors over a sleeping world." 

After a little silence Colonel King proceeded: "New Mexico contains 
121,201 square miles, or 77,568,640 acres. It is bounded on the north by 
Colorado, on the east by the Indian Territory and Texas; on the south by 
Texas and Mexico, and on the west by Arizona. As you will see. by the 
Southern Pacific folder, it is very mountainous ; but there is much good, 
level, well-watered country within its boundary, nevertheless. These stretches are 
called table lands, some of which have an altitude of from 3,000 to 6,000 feet 
above the level of the sea. No asthma or malaria can exist in such a 
country. The next largest town along our route, beside Deming, which is 
connected with Silver City by rail, is Lordsburgh, which has a railroad to 
Clifton. There are a number of other new towns, as you will observe by 
your little map. The mineral wealth of New Mexico has been known to 
exist for centuries. Indeed, the traditions and knowledge existing among the 
village Indians of Mexico at the date of the conquest by Cortez was of a 
great people and of great mineral wealth in Aztlan (the white <>r bright 
land), as the country far to the north, since named New Mexico, was known 
early in the sixteenth century. Since- the American occupation (1846), as 
reported by the Director of the 1'. S. Mint, the net production in precious 
metals of the mines of New Mexico down to and including 1SS1, have been, 
in gold, §10,350,000, and of silver, $3,622,000, making a total of Si 3.^72,000. 
I have no later statistics as to its aggregate output ol precious metals, but 
I know it is more than $20,000,000." 

"Arizona is even more interesting than New Mexico, is it not.'" inquired 
Mr. Rowan. 




38 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



" Infinitely so. Taking everything into consideration, it is the most interest- 
ing of all our territories. It is an ancient field of religious and agricultural and 
probably mining operations, and presents remains of vast irrigating canals and 
places of refuge for multitudes of people. Here and there throughout the 

territory are ruins of what must have once 
been pretentious dwellings, storehouses 
and fortifications. There are ample evi- 
dences that what may now seem like 
sweeps of arid and unprepossessing country 
to you, and which we shall pass over this 
afternoon, especially after leaving Tucson, 
was once beautified by lands which gave 
nourishment to hundreds of thousands of 
people. Whether this once prosperous and 
inviting domain and its inhabitants were 
swept like a flash from existence by flood 
or flame can never be known; whether 
they were rained upon by volcanoes, or swallowed by earthquakes, is nowhere 
engraven on stone or paper. But that they were here, and cultivated 
extensive areas of arable lands, is portrayed in the vast ruins of mansions and 
canals which exist upon the banks of the Gila and Salt rivers, several of which I 
have visited upon many occasions. The remains of Casa Grande, which are a few 
hours' ride from the station of that name, I once visited while on duty in the terri- 
tory; and I saw other ruins which occupied more area, tremendous canals and 
acres of pottery and granite implements of agricultural, mechanical and culinary 
use. It is a country rich in geology and botany. I have ridden all day, on a trip 
I once made from Camp McDowell to the sinks of the Hassayampa — over what 
was known as the Dunkelberger trail, so-called in honor of a brave officer of 
the ist Cavalry, who first made it — and never for a mile stepped upon any- 
thing but beds of velvety-looking flowers rich in all the magnificent colorings 
of an Axminster. You will behold, too, a medley of mountain peaks, some 
of which taper off fantastically in the clouds, while others rise majestically as if 
to kiss the sapphire sky. The wonders of the mirage are more exquisitely 
and more truly reflected at various points in Arizona — conspicuously between 
Bowie and Wilcox, and between Gila Bend and Yuma — than anywhere else in 
the world, so all say who have taken observations of such illusions in America 
and Europe. I will not call your attention to this forthcoming spectacle, 
however, because, when we come upon it, to-day, you will all declare that 
the train has commenced to meander the margin of a beautiful lake, or chain 





MIRAGE IN ARIZONA. 



of lakes, dotted with islands and other beauty-spots, and altogether appearing 
like a fairy archipelago. You will behold, so you will say, the very shrubs 
and grasses {iwf) upon its banks nodding at its shadows in the glass}' waters; 
the outlines of the far-off mountains will be penciled upon the mirror seem- 
ingly at their feet ; w hile the white-plumed summits in the enchanting distance 
will be also visible in the cerulean counterfeit on your left." 

In reply to a question by Mrs. Rowan, asking about the area of Arizona, 
the Colonel said: "It is bounded on the north by Nevada and Utah, on the 
east by New Mexico, on the south by Mexico, and on the west by California 
and Nevada. It has an area of 113,947 square miles. Its greatest length from 
north to south is about 400 miles, and from east to west, very nearly 350. The 
country may be generally described as a vast elevated plateau crossed and 
seamed in its northern part by deep canons, mighty fissures and narrow valleys. 
This great plateau has an elevation of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet in the north, 
which gradually descends to nearly sea level in the extreme southwest. 
Its output of gold and silver rims up into the tens of millions. and it 
has to-day 80,000 inhabitants, 30,000 of whom live by stock raising and farming." 

"I wouldn't have missed seeing and passing through this section ol our 
country for the world," said Mr. Rowan; "although I do not think 1 should 
care to live here." 

" O, yes, papa, do move out here, right away," cried Miss Gussie, "and I'll 
flirt with some of the fine-looking cowboys." 

"The scenery is novel and highly interesting, on all sides, certainly; and 
statistics of the mineral output of Arizona tell a flattering story to the 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



world " continued Mr. Rowan ; " but I greatly doubt the agricultural 
possibilities of the territory." 

" In that you are mistaken ; for there are few valleys in Arizona 
that may not be made to blossom as the rose, if water can be 
introduced upon them — and water is being introduced 
in great volumes in some sections." 

After a few moments the Colonel con- 
tinued, and gave his friends 
a graphic description of 




NATURAL SPIRES 
ALONG THE GILA RIVER, ARIZONA, 



Tucson, one of the oldest and most 
unique cities in our country, and the 
beautiful mountain scenery thereabouts ; 
of its handsomest church ruin in North 
America (San Xavier del Bac) 9 miles 
away ; of Benson, which is connected with 
Guaymas (Mexico) by rail ; of Wilcox, 
named after a general of that name ; of 
Maricopa, in whose neighborhood have 
lived tens of thousands of Indians for 
hundreds of years, and whose boast is that 
they have never killed a white man ; of 
Yuma and its fort, and even of the soldier 
who died and went to the bad place and 



TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 



4i 




SCENES AT AND NEAB YUMA, ARIZONA. 



42 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 




INDIO STATION, CALIFORNIA. 



sent back for his blankets — a well-known chestnut, of course ; of the place upon 
the Colorado desert where the train runs sixty-odd miles between two and 
three hundred feet below the surface of the sea — an episode of traveling which 
cannot be shown on any other railroad 
in the world — commencing at a point 59 
miles east of Indio, and continuing thence 
to a point two miles west of Indio, 
reaching a depth in one place of fi66 
feet below the level of the sea ; and a 
description of Indio, which is noted as a 
most beneficial place for persons very far 
gone with the consumption and asthma ; 
of the San Gorgonio Pass, 2,560 feet 

above the sea ; and he then took them quite over the summit into the vine- 
yards and orange groves which fringe the road upon either side from the 
pass down to Colton (965 feet above tide water), and thus provided them with 
a slight foretaste of the pleasures which they were to enjoy upon the following 
day. 

Our party were up and dressed the next morning, and sight-seeing, a 
long time before they reached Colton, where there are railway connections with 
Riverside and San Diego. Colonel King, so familiar with all points in southern 
California, dilated eloquently upon the beauties of Riverside and the health- 
fulness of San Diego. " Where Riverside now stands," said he, " was a vast, 
unwatered plain, eighteen years ago, where I have shot a hundred rabbit and quail 
of an evening — never dream- 
ing that, some day, the same 
slopes would contain one of 
the prettiest places upon the 




RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA. 



continent, and which should 
take the highest premiums 
and all the sweepstake medals 
for the finest exhibition of 



TO THE GOLD EX GATE. 



43 



semi-tropical fruits, such as oranges, lemons, limes, and the like (along with its 
sister, National City, near San Diego), at a world's fair, which was the case in 
New Orleans during the Exposition of 1884-5 — ailc ^ }" ou must remember, by the 
way, Mr. Rowan, how Florida was beaten at all points by these two Cali- 




IN AND AROUND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. 



44 FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 

fornia towns — Riverside, San Bernadino County, California, and National City, San 
Diego County — after several handlings and shipments rising two thousand miles." 

Mr. Rowan said it was fresh in his mind, as he was at the Exposition 
grounds when the awards were made, and concerning which he became greatly 
interested. 

" By the way, Colonel King," interrogated Gussie, vivaciously, " hadn't we ought 
to have changed our nickel chronometers at El Paso?" 

« Well, I should say so — that was stupid in me not to have mentioned it," replied 

the old officer. " In 
fact, I forgot to set 
my own watch. All 
trains over the Sunset 
Route between New 
Orleans and El Paso 
are run by Central 
Standard Time ; and all 
trains between El Paso 
and San Francisco are 
run by Pacific Standard 
Time, which is two 
hours slower than Cen- 
tral Time; while Mex- 
ico Time is thirty-six 
minutes slower than 
Central Time." 

Then, as they jour- 
neyed along toward 
Los Angeles, the 
Colonel pointed out 
Ontario, Cucamonga, 
Pomona, San Gabriel, 
Pasadena, Alhambra, 
and a score or more of 
pretty and flourishing 
towns, and all such 
prominent objects as the San Gabriel Mission Church, over a hundred years 
old; the Sierra Madre Villa, away up on a foothill capped with fountains and 
orange trees, and the handsome new " Raymond," at South Pasadena, the finest 
hotel in southern California. 




IN AND AROUND SAN GABRIEL AND PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. 



TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 



45 



"I take it, Colonel, that you know this part of California by heart?" 
interrogated Tommie, who had become greatly interested in the famous grape 
and orange-producing country through which they were passing. 

" I am as familiar with it as I am w ith my own home and its surround- 
ings. I was stationed in Los Angeles the year after the Mexican War and 
again in 1876-7. And I domiciliated here the greater part of the winter of 
1883. So, you see, I have, to some extent, grown up or at least kept 
up with this section of California. You will be greatly taken with the 
city of Los Angeles. I am fonder of it than of any place I have ever seen. 
It is the strawberries and cream of the Golden State. Its climate is the 
very incarnation of atmospheric perfection. So jocund and balm)- are the 
winters — " 

" Colonel ! You are taking us quite into the Yale of Cashmere, itself." 

"In other words, you mean that I am drawing the long bow?" 

" I don't mean to say that. Captains Cecil and Stackpole, of the British 
Navy, you know, fought a fatal duel over that remark." 

" Tommie ! When the Sphynx, which forever looks across the lifeless des- 
ert, condescends to take a matutinal, then we, too, will fight a duel." 

" You never fought a duel, Colonel ? " 

"Never; but, I must confess, I once sent a challenge to a brother officer." 
"What was the cause?" 
" The cause ! " 
" Yes." 

"Well, I'll tell you, but you must never mention it to a human being: 
the cause was a lady over whose head at least two flights of seventeen-year 
locusts had passed ; while the combined ages of the would-be combatants 
marked only forty-two. I'll introduce you to Dr. Griffin, when we reach Los 
Angeles, who may present you with all the graphic details, if he likes." 

" I am already quite in love with the City of the Angels." 

"You will be enchanted with it, I promise. You will see, for yourself, 
that Nature has been most bountiful, indeed, throughout the section of which 
I speak. She has dispensed her gifts with unparalleled lavishness, and the 
poorest participant may be a worshiper at the shrine <>f contentment. No 
beautiful pictures need be sketched of this land flowing with milk and honey. 
Every man lives under his own vine and fig tree, and breathes the free air 
of America. The magnificent panorama of every-day lite laughs at all alle- 
gories. Agriculture teems and Ilygcia reigns. The rye is charmed and the 
heart is filled; the soul is intoxicated with a vision of loveliness and beauty, 
more rare than that which greeted Cortez and his bold followers, when, from 



46 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



the elevated crest of the Cordilleras, their ravished gaze fell upon the lake- 
dotted, palace-spangled, mountain-girdled Valley of Mexico." 
" An Eden I declare ! " 

" Where the mocking-bird tunes its lyre to entrancing midnight melodies 
and the silvery-voiced linnet sings sweet canticles to the morning star." 
" Colonel, catch me 1 " 

" You have wound me up, and there's no telling, now, when I shall stop. 
In brief, Los Angeles, or La Pueblo de la Reina de los Angeles (literally the town 
of the Queen of the Angels, to give its ancient Spanish-Mexican title in full) is 
charmingly situated upon a slope of the Sierra Santa Monica. The Los 




OCEAN SCULPTURE — NEAR SANTA MONICA. 

Angeles River furnishes it with water, and irrigates a territory of tens of thousands 
of acres. No city of equal size in America has advanced more rapidly or more 
surely. Within five years the population of the city increased to the extent 
of some 20,000, the present number of inhabitants being estimated at from 
38,000 to 40,000. During these five years more than 4,000 residences were 
built in addition to nearly a mile of business blocks. The old portion of the 
city is irregularly built of adobe, and still possesses many Spanish characteristics. 
The newer portion forms a strong contrast with the older, containing many 
handsome private residences and pretentious business structures. Los Angeles 
is emphatically a city of groves and gardens. Fruits and flowers abound 
everywhere. There are large orange orchards and vineyards within the city limits, 



TO THE GOLD EX GATE. 



47 



and many private residences are embowered in flowers and surrounded by park- 
like grounds. A few miles out these luxurious exhibitions of the great richness 
and fruitfulness of the soil are multiplied an hundredfold. The most beautiful 
suburb of Los Angeles is Pasadena, some eight miles distant. Here the orange- 
groves and gardens are very rich and productive, and handsome villas dot the 
fair expanse of valley. Many fine residences have been erected by Eastern 
people who have come hither in search of health, and these are surrounded 
by flowers and orange-trees which make the region a veritable paradise. Pasa- 
dena occupies a healthful situation in a high portion of the valley, with an 
undulating surface, and a lovely outlook both upon the neighboring mountains 
of the Sierra Madre and down the San Gabriel and Los Angeles valleys towards 
the ocean. It needed only a first-class hotel to render this charming spot 
attractive in the highest degree, and the building of the Raymond has fully 
supplied this want. No grander situation for a hotel ewer existed ; and, in 
planning this establishment, due regard was had to that important fact. While the 
building is noble in outline and capacity, and provided w ith every modern comfort 
and luxury, every window commands a varied and delightful view. The wide 
front, with its ample veranda, commands the southern valley expanse and the 
distant ocean ; the wings, with their equally broad verandas, and the rear, look 




TIIK RAYMOND, MM III I' AS A DKN A , CALIFORNIA. 



4 8 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



out across other scenes of beauty towards the high mountains. Light., sunshine, 
and air have been considered as prime necessities, and the rooms for guests have 
been so constructed that these important aids to health and comfort are secured 
to a far greater extent than is common in large hotels. The sleeping-rooms are 
all of liberal size, high, and readily accessible ; while the public apartments, in- 
cluding not only reception-rooms, parlors, reading and writing rooms, ladies' 
billiard-room, gentlemen's billiard-room, etc., but also an admirably appointed ball- 
room, are also very spacious. The notel and grounds are owned by Messrs. 
Emmons and Walter Raymond, of Boston, and is managed by C. H. Merrill, well 
known as the successful manager of the famous Crawford House in the White 
Mountains. The Sierra Madre Villa is beautifully situated, thirteen miles from 
Los Angeles, some 1,700 feet above the ocean, with a wide expanse of the San 
Gabriel valley, filled with vineyards and orange orchards, spread out in front, 
while the rugged mountains rise a few miles away. The view extends far out 
on the ocean, which is about thirty miles distant. The villa is in the mist of an 
orange grove, and rare plants and flowers in profusion ornament the grounds. 
Los Angeles is about thirteen miles distant, and the San Gabriel station on the 
Southern Pacific is only about four miles away. Carriages run from the villa 
to the latter point in connection with trains. The hotel is under the manage- 
ment of W. Gardner Coggswell. Santa Monica, some sixteen miles from Los 
Angeles, is the chief sea-shore resort of southern California, and is renowned for 
its mild temperature. Sea-bathing is a sport that may be enjoyed at any season 
of the year. There is also a pavilion on the beach where hot and cold salt and 
fresh water and fresh and salt steam baths may be had. The Hotel Arcadia, 
J. W. Scott, proprietor, is finely situated upon a bluff just above the beach, and 
deservedly enjoys a good reputation. There is also a nice hotel and excellent 
beach and delightful surroundings only a few miles from Wilmington, known as 
Long Beach. Then there are Anaheim, Santa Ana, San Pedro, Wilmington, 
Orange, Westminster, and many other pretty and interesting towns, all of them 
only a few miles from Los Angeles, by rail ; and I must not forget to mention 
that there are a number of good hotels in Los Angeles — among which are the 
Nadeau, St. Elmo, St. Charles, Pico, and the Depot. The latter is a most satis- 
factory place, as you will say if you stop there — I know whereof I speak." 

FROM LOS ANGELES TO SAN FRANCISCO. 

Mr. Rowan and his family, who had intended staying in Los Angeles three 
days, remained nearly three weeks, and were even then reluctant to depart, so 
entranced had they been with that city and its suburbs — especially Pasadena, San 



TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 



49 



Gabriel, Sierra Madre Villa, Long Beach, and Santa Monica. Colonel King had 
left the party the day after their arrival at Los Angeles, so anxious was he to 
meet his daughter at Sacramento. He had kindly left his last instalment of 
miniature maps, however, which designated the line of travel from the metropolis 
of southern California to the metropolis of the State. This map shows a number 




^TRESPINOS " J - - ^-. y O K " ^\ 

.Soledad 



Barbara e 



s2* 



of the most prominent places along the line, such as Mojave, Caliente, 
Sumner, Tulare, Goshen, Fresno, Berenda, Merced, Lathrop, Tracy, Antioch, and 
Oakland, while the large map of the Southern Pacific Co.'s folder, which all 
through travelers are provided with, is much more elaborate. The distance from 
Los Angeles to San Francisco is 483 miles and the altitude of the former is 395 
feet — the Pacific ocean being about 14 miles away. The first point of interest 
west of Los Angeles is San Fernando, 21 miles, in the neighborhood of which 
there is one wheat field of 38,000 acres, belonging to a single firm of two or three 
men. Five miles further is the San Fernando Tunnel, more than a mile in length, 

Four miles 
er, and Newhall 



and so straight that each end exchanges daylight with the other 




THE A R 1.1 NOTON, SANTA IIAKI'.AK A , < \ 1.1 KORNIA, 



is reached, where 
there is a road to 
Santa Barbara, which 
town is thought by 
man\' to be just 
about as exquisite a 
spot to winter in as 
there is in the w < >rld. 
There is one of the 
prettiest beaches at 
Santa Barbara to be 
seen anywhere, and 
there is bathing (at 



5o 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



all times of the year), boating and driving. More than one-half of the population 
— say, 2,000 — were formerly invalids in the east, who have taken up their perma- 
nent homes in Santa Barbara, and of which the late Thomas Logan said • " I 
know no place in the world so protected and bearing the same relation to the 
mountains and the ocean, unless it be the Riviera undercliff along the northern 
coast of the Mediterranean, at Hieres, in southeastern France, and at Nice and 
Mentone, in western Italy." There are pleasant drives all around Santa Barbara, 
and many beautiful and pretentious homes. Fruits and flowers grow and attain 
perfection every month in the year. There is a splendid hotel at Santa Barbara 
(the Arlington,) which can accommodate two hundred people in first-class style. 
Four miles from town is a monster grape vine, the trunk of which is 34 inches in 

circumference, and whose 
branches cover an arbor of 
75 feet square and which 
have borne five tons of 
grapes in a single season. 
Six miles from Santa Barbara 
are some hot springs of won- 




MONSTER GRAPE VINE NEAR SANTA BARBARA — FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY TABER. 

derful curative powers. These springs are 1,400 feet above the sea. There are a 
dozen of them in a wild, rocky canyon, and the four largest have temperatures of 
114 , 1 1 5 , 116 , and 118 . The noblest of all the attractions at Santa Barbara is 
its old mission church and grounds (which we present in engraving), founded in 
1786. The main structure is 200 feet in length and nearly 50 feet in width, with 
a wing of 130 feet. It is the only mission in California where Franciscan monks 
still remain. Mojave, 100 miles from Los Angeles, is soon reached, a spur of the 
Coast range having been crossed at an altitude of 3,211 feet. Tehachepi, 120 
miles from Los Angeles, is the highest point (3,964 feet) between San Francisco 
and Los Angeles, and is the name of the coming together of the mountains of 
the Sierra Nevada and Coast range. Between Tehachepi and Caliente, 26 miles 



TO' THE GOLD EX GATE. 



5i 



further west, is the famous LOOP — au engraving of which is presented as a fron- 
tispiece — pronounced by all surveyors and civil engineers as the most remarkable 
specimen of railroad engineering to be seen in the world, and the only railroad 
engineering work of the same nature, where the road is made to cross itself. Its 
exact location is 352 miles from San Francisco, or 130 from Los Angeles. The 
length of the Loop is 3,795 feet ; lower elevation at tunnel, 2,956 feet, and upper 
elevation, at grade over , tunnel, 3,034 feet — difference in elevation, 78 feet. Arriv- 
ing at Caliente, the tourist soon reaches the head of the great wheat-growing re- 
gion of California, known as the San Joaquin Valley, which reaches to within 50 
miles of San Francisco, and is some 250 or 300 miles in length by about 60 in 
width, and may be justly termed the Lombardy of the Golden State. The climate 




OLD MISSION CHURCH AT SANTA BARBARA. 



52 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



of this section is remarkably favorable; there are varieties of soil adapted to the 
profitable production of a diversity of crops and the facilities for transportation 
are unexcelled. Already the value of its products, in proportion to its popula- 
tion, is greater than that of any other district of a similar extent in the world, 
yet its full capacity for production is but imperfectly demonstrated. The 
southern portion of this great valley, which is drained by the San Joaquin river 
and its tributaries, the Tuolumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Mokelumne, Merced, 
Kings and Kern rivers, covers an area of about 25,000 square miles and is 




PEN SKETCH OF THE APPROACH TO OAKLAND FERRY. 



estimated to contain 150,000,000 acres of arable land. At Berenda, 178 miles 
from San Francisco and 304 from Los Angeles, is the point where Yosemite 
tourists take the cars for the famous valley, which is 81 miles — 21 by rail and 
60 by stage. At Lathrop, 84 miles further, rail connections may be made with 
Stockton and Sacramento. At or near Antioch, 55 miles from San Francisco, 
sight may be caught of the Sacramento river on the right, and on the left a 
near view of Mount Diablo, 3,856 feet in height, and seeming much higher on 
account of its nearness to the sea. Martinez, 36 miles from San Francisco, may 
be seen nestling in a cluster of pretty hills on the left, and across the river 
may be seen Benicia, once ambitious to become the metropolis of the Occident 



TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 



53 



From this point to Oakland, the tourist meanders the Carquinez straits and San 
Pablo and San Francisco bays, a distance of some 30 miles, and is then taken 
across San Francisco bay by a superior ferry system to the metropolis of Cali- 
fornia. And it is hardly necessary to say that, among others, the Row ans arrived 
safely and well, and took the Market-street Cable Road for the Palace Hotel — 
where we respectfully leave them, and devote the remaining part of the book to 
descriptions of San Francisco, Yosemite and Big Tree Groves, Geysers and Xapa 
Soda Springs, Mount Shasta and Lake Tahoe ; also of Monterey and Santa Cruz, 
and other noted and attractive places along the line of the northern division of 
the Southern Pacific Co. 

SIGHTS AND SCENES IN SAN FRANCISCO. 

San Francisco, the ninth city in population in the United States, and one of the 
first in interest and importance, is the metropolis of California, w hich is the largest 
state in the Union except Texas, and contains 188,981 square miles, or 120.947,840 
acres — and is bounded on the north by Oregon, on the east by Nevada and Arizona, 
on the south by Lower California, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. San 
Francisco first entered upon its formal and legally recognized existence as an 
independent municipality in May, 1850, the Count)' of San Francisco having been 
duly organized the month preceding. For upwards of six years the two distinct 
governments contemporaneously maintained independent administrations within the 
same geographical limits. On the first of July, 1856, the Consolidation Aet, 
uniting the two under the name and title of The City and Count}- of San 
Francisco, was passed. The total land area of the city and count}' is 26,68] acres; 
its average breadth from bay to ocean being four and one-half miles by six and one- 
half miles in length. The peninsula on which the city is located is about thirty 
miles long by fifteen wide, the city and count}- occupying the western end. The 
total value of real and personal property for 1885 was $300,000,000. There are 
1,180 streets, avenues, and alleys, w hich appear on the map of the city, and 36,000 
buildings. There are 127 church organizations, all of w hich have houses of worship 
in various parts of the city — Baptists, eight ; Congregationalists, eighl ; Episcopalians, 
eleven; Evangelical, eight; Hebrew, seven; Methodist, sixteen; Presbyterians, 
sixteen; Catholic, twenty-seven ; Swedenborgian, one ; Unitarian, one; miscellaneous, 
fourteen. The total value of school property in the city amounts t<> more than 
$1,300,000. It has six first-class theatres and opera-houses, four Chinese theatres, 
and twenty-one other proper places of amusement, including Woodward's Gardens. 
It has nineteen academies and places of art; it has a large- number of public 
buildings, including a L\ S. Mint; it has twenty-two banks of deposit and thirteen 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



TO THE GOLD EX GATE. 



55 



savings banks ; it has the best fire department in the world, with 206 fire-alarm boxes, 
155 miles of wire, 370 men, nineteen steamers, sixteen hose carriages, nine hook and 
ladder trucks, five miles of carbolized hose, 1,832 hydrants, and sixty cisterns holding 
2,121,900 gallons; 1 10 halls; twenty-four gardens and parks; five gymnasiums; 
forty-nine hotels, the Palace (the largest in the world), the Baldwin^ Occidental 
Lick, and Grand being first-class; thirty-nine hospitals; thirty-three libraries and 
reading-rooms; fortv militarv organizations; sixty-nine clubs and social societies; 
168 newspapers, among which are the daily and weekly Chronicle, Call, Bulletin^ 
Post, Alta, Examiner, and Report; seventeen religious and 316 benevolent societies; 
seventy-eight protective associations ; five immigration and sixty miscellaneous 
societies; twelve street car lines — including five cable-roads, which are of great 
interest to tourists. The population of San Francisco, according to the census 
of 1880 was 234,116; in 1882, about 290,000, and at present at least 325,000. The 
bay of San Francisco is full of places of interest, conspicuous among which are 
Alcatraz, Goat and Angel Islands, Black Point, Lime Point, etc. Some of the 
most attractive places and leading objects of interest in and around San Francisco 
are the Palace Hotel, the cable-roads, Chinese quarters, Golden Gate Park, Russian 
and Telegraph hills, Presidio, Cliff House, Woodward's Gardens, Oakland Ferry 
Building, Safe Deposit and San Francisco Stock Board buildings, and other 
buildings, and the handsome residences along Van Ness Avenue and the California 
street cable-road. Hacks and cabs are allowed to make the follow ing charges, and 
any claim for an excess of these rates can be severely dealt with : Hacks— One, person, 
not more than one mile, $1.50; two or more persons, not more than one mile, $2. 50 ; 
four or less, by the hour, first hour, §3.00; and each subsequent hour, $2.00. Cabs 
One person, not more than one mile, $1.00; two or more persons, by the hour, first 
hour, $1.50; and each subsequent hour, $l.OO. 

The Palace Hotel amazes all visitors. It occupies an entire block in the centre 
of the city, and is the model hotel of the world. It is thoroughly fire and earthquake 
proof, has broad, easy stairways and five elevators. Lvery room is extra large, 
light, and airy. The system of ventilation is perfect, combining Hue from fire-place, 
inlet flue for fresh air from outside, and outlet flue to the root. A bath and closet 
adjoin ever)' room. All rooms are easy ol access from broad, light corridors, 
leading from the glass covered court in the centre oi the building. The central 
court illuminated by electric lights, its immense glass roof, broad balconies around 
it on every story, its carriage way, and its tropical plants, is an attractive feature, 
one hitherto unknown in American hotels, while- guests are entertained on either 
the American or European plan. The restaurant is an adjunct to the hotel, and 
is the finest in the city. The rates are: room with board, three dollars per day; 
room with board, four dollars per day : room w ithout board, one dollar per day and 




PALACE HOTEL, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA— FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY TABER. 



TO- THE GOLDEX GATE, 



57 



upwards. Lines of horse-cars connecting directly with all principal streets, business 
centres, leading places of amusement or resort, and all notable localities, constantly 
traversing the entire city even to its remotest suburbs, run directly by or within a 
minute's walk of the Palace. At the neighboring foot of the city's grand central 
avenue, which passes directly under its northern front, are the stations and docks of 
the Great Overland Railway terminus, with the piers and ships of the principal 
steam ferries, which bridge the bay in every habitable or pleasurable direction. 
Ninety-six thousand two hundred and fifty square feet, or nearly two and a 
quarter acres, underlie the stupendous structure itself, while the sub-sidewalk ex- 
tensions increase the basement area to upward of three acres. Its general form 
is an immense triplicate, hollow quadrangle, including one grand central crystal 
roofed garden court, flanked by a lesser and parallel court on either side. Seven 
lofty stories surmount the deep and airy basement, and through a considerable 
portion it has eight. The lower story has a height of over twenty-seven feet ; 
the uppermost, sixteen. Four artesian wells, having a tested capacity of 28,000 
gallons an hour, supply the great 630,000 gallon reservoir under the central 
court, besides filling seven roof-tanks, holding 130,000 gallons more. Three large 
steam fire-pumps force water through 45 four inch Wrought-iron upright fire-mains, 
reaching above the roof, and distribute it through 327 two and one-halt inch hose- 
bibs, and 15,000 feet of five-ply carbolized fire-hose, thus doubly and trebly com- 




A GLIM PS F. op woodward's GARDENS — REACHED BY THE MARKET STREET CABLE RAILWAY. 



53 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



manding even' inch of the vast structure from roof to basement, within and with- 
out. Five patent safety-catch hydraulic elevators, running noiselessly within 
fire-proof brick walls, ascend even to the roof promenades. Electric fire-alarms, 
self-acting, instantly report at the office the exact locality of any fire, or even of 
extraordinary heat in any parlor, bed-room, closet, hall, passage, stairway, or 
store-room. Special hotel watchmen regularly patrol all parts of the building 
every thirty minutes, day and night. A self-acting and self-registering tell-tale 
indicator instantly reports at the office any neglect or omission of their duty. Besides 
all these precautions, a fire-proof iron staircase, inclosed in solid brick and stone, 
and opening through iron doors, upon every floor, ascends from basement to roof. 
Every floor has its exclusive annunciator, and its own tubular conductors, carrying 
all letters for the post-office directly to the main letter-box in the general office. A 
pneumatic dispatch-tube instantly conveys letters, messages, or parcels to and from 
any point of the different floors. The grand central court, 144x84 feet, has a 
carriage and promenade entrance through, the east front on New Montgomery street 
of forty-four feet width, expanding into a circular drive-way fifty-two feet in diameter 
surrounded by a marble-tiled promenade and a tropical garden of rare exotics, 
statuary and fountains. Off the central court open the main entrance to the 
hotel office, 65x55; entrances to the breakfast-room, 110x55; the grand dining- 
room, 150x55; the music and ball room, 65x55; the ladies' lower reception 
parlor, 40x40; reading-room of the same size; billiard-rooms, 65x40; barber 
shop and bath-rooms, 40x40; committee rooms and other general apartments, 
devoted to the pleasure or convenience of guests and patrons. On the second 
floor are private dining-rooms, children's dining-hall and the ladies' drawing-room, 
84x40. The total number of rooms exclusively for guests, above the garden floor, 
is 755, most of which are twenty feet square; none less than 16x16. They 
are equally well finished and furnished throughout. Within and without, in all 
approaches, appointments and belongings, this kingly structure, far surpassing 
not only in size but in grandeur all the hotels of Europe and America, richly 
justified the projector of its happily chosen name — the Palace Hotel. The 
Baldwin Hotel is also a splendid structure, and was completed and opened in 
May, 1877, and is conducted on the American plan. The Baldwin is one of the 
most elegantly-appointed hotels in the world, more than $3,500,000 alone having 
been expended by its owner in its construction and furnishing. Situated on 
Market street, at the intersection of Powell and Eddy streets, and fronting on four 
principal streets in the business centre, it is convenient of access to and from all 
quarters of the city. Eight lines of street-cars pass its doors. The Occidental Hotel, 
on Montgomery street, between Sutter and Bush, is first-class in all respects, 
and is a favorite resort for United States army and navy officers. 



6o 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



Golden Gate Park, which invites in winter as well as in summer, is a delightful 
resort, and is thronged Sundays by those who have toiled at tool and desk during the 
week, and where music is provided free for the masses Saturdays and Sundays the 
year round. Woodward's Gardens is also an all-the-year-round resort, and is one of 
the prettiest places of the kind in the world. These two lovely breathing-places are 
reached by the Market street cable-road, fare five cents, and the Cliff House by the 
same means (and the Park and Ocean Railroad, five cents more). San Francisco is 
more cosmopolitan than even New Orleans or any other American city, and one may 
take a foreign jaunt in miniature by exploring some of the European and Oriental 
quarters found in the midst of its busy life. One may walk through French, 
Spanish, Chinese, German, Italian, and Mexican colonies, and for a dozen squares 
scarcely hear an English word spoken. The greatest curiosity in the city is the 
Chinese quarter, a rectangular block, seven squares in length by three and four 
in breadth. It is near the business centre, and only a few blocks away from the 
palaces of millionaires. The houses are nearly all tall, decayed buildings swarming 
with tenants, and the blocks are cut up into sections by narrow alleys, filled with 
underground dens, and attics whose overhanging dormer windows shut out all but a 
slender patch of sky. The cellars are occupied as shops, factories, or opium-dens. 
The main streets are lined by the stores of the large Chinese merchants. You 
find yourself in a popular corner of China. Even the fronts of the houses have 
assumed a Celestial aspect, not only in the signs and placards at the windows and 
shop-fronts, but in the altered architecture and decorations. An interesting 
experience is to spend a half-hour in watching the performance at a Chinese 
theatre, and listening to the ear-piercing, mournful music, and then adjourn to a 
neighboring restaurant, drink genuine Chinese tea, in Celestial style, and taste the 
cakes, preserved water-melon and sweet-meats. In all the stores, and other 
portions of the Chinese quarter, Eastern visitors are received with the greatest 
courtesy. The favorite carriage drive is out through Golden Gate Park to the 
famous Cliff House, and returning over the Point Lobos road, which over- 
looks the Presidio, the Golden Gate and the broad Pacific beyond, together 
with the most beautiful portion of the bay, the heights of Tamalpais, Saucelito, 
Angel Island, the Island of Alcatraz, etc. The Cliff House hangs on the 
edge of a bold cliff overlooking the ocean, and from the piazza one may look 
down upon the rocks, where hundreds of seals are crawling about or basking 
in the warm rays of the sun. Among the public buildings of San Francisco 
may be mentioned the new City Hall, on Market street opposite Eighth street ; 
the large Mechanics' Pavilion, where industrial fairs and concerts are occasionally 
held, opposite the City Hall, on Larkin near Market street , the branch United 
States Mint, on the northwest corner of Mission and Fifth streets; the Post- 



TO' THE GOLDEN GATE, 




THE CHINESE QUARTER OF SAN FRANCISCO — FROM PHOTOGRAPHS PV TAPER. 



62 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



office and Custom-house, on Washington street ; the Merchants' Exchange building, 
on California street ; the old Stock Exchange, on Pine street, and the new Stock 
Exchange, on Leidesdorff street ; the Museum of the California Academy of 
Sciences (open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays), corner of California and 
Dupont streets; the Museum of the State Mining Bureau, No. 212 Sutter street; 
the Free Library, in the California Theatre building, Bush street ; the Masonic 




Temple, corner Post and Mont- 
gomery streets, and the new Odd Fellows' 
Hall, at the corner of Market and Seventh 
overlooking the golden gate. California street is the Wall street, 

and Market street the Broadway, of the city. Kearny and Montgomery streets 
are also busy thoroughfares, as are also some of the intersecting avenues. The 
principal wharves are on the eastern side of the city. There are many fine 
churches and school-buildings, and one of the handsomest of the former is the 
Jewish Synagogue, on Sutter street. There are places of worship for all sects, 
including several Chinese joss houses. The old Mission Dolores is at the corner 
of Dolores and Sixteenth streets. The markets form a distinctive and interesting 
feature, and deserve the attention of the stranger. Across the bay from San 
Francisco are Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley. Oakland is the Brooklyn of the 
metropolis, five miles from ferry slip to ferry slip; between seven and eight 
miles to Broadway, and just seven miles to the Sixteenth street station, from 
San Francisco. Oakland is held by many travelers and writers to be the most 
beautiful and most delightful suburb in the United States. It certainly has the 
ri^ht to claim unsurpassed ferry and railway facilities, a genial climate, perfect 



TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 



accessibility, and magnificent surroundings. It is flanked by Alameda and 
Berkeley, each a large and flourishing suburban town. The population of Oak- 
land comes close on to 40,000. The homes of the rich are very beautiful ; and 

the drives within and out- 
side the city are numerous 
and delightful. No place 
in any country can show 
so much shrubbery and so 
mau\' flowers the year 
round. Like Brooklyn, 
Oakland is a city of 
churches, while her public 
and private educational 
institutions are numerous 
and take high rank. There 
are several good hotels, 
the Galindo being strictly 
first class, although its 
or nearly all, shaded by 
lory of Oakland. 




SAN FRANCISCO BAY — FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY FISKE. 



rates are moderate. The streets and avenues are all 
oaks, from which the place takes its name. The crownin w 
however, is the new depot and ferry-house of the Southern Pacific Company, which is 
one of the largest and completest structures of the kind. This western terminal 
station of the Southern Pacific Company rests upon a pier of earthwork and rock 
running out into San Francisco Pa)' from its eastern shore a distance of one and a 
quarter miles, having a w harf and ferry-slip at its western extremity. The building 
is constructed in three main divisions longitudinal!}'. The central part is [20 feet 
wide and sixty feet high, and accommodates overland trains, and the divisions on 

cither side of this are sixty 

feet wide and forty feet high, 
being exclusively for suburban 
trains running to and from 
Oakland, Alameda, and Berk- 
eley, connecting with the San 
Francisco ferry-steamers. At 
the west end of the- main or 
central division are .two com- 
modious waiting-rooms for 
passengers. The upper or ma 




PEN SKETCH OF LAKE MERRITT, OAKLAND. 



waiting-room [20x130 feet, connecting by side: 



aprons with the saloon-deck of ferry-st earners, and tin- lower waiting-room, con- 



6 4 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



necting by end apron with the main deck of steamers, give quick and easy- 
passage to and from the boats. The building also contains a restaurant and 
various offices and apartments for railroad employes. The structure, 1,050 feet 
in length, covers an area of over four acres, and is constructed mainly of wood 
and iron, the supports resting on concrete and pile foundations. The roof,, 
covered with corrugated iron and glass, gives abundant light during the day,, 
and at night the building is illuminated with electric-lights generated by machin- 
ery on the premises. Alameda, which is also reached by the ferry-boats and cars 
of the Southern Pacific Company, contains many very pretty suburban homes. 
Berkeley is a lovely place, and contains the State University. Piedmont, three 
and one-half miles from Oakland, and nearly four hundred feet above the bay,, 
is unsurpassed in loveliness of site and situation. Here is a fine hotel, kept 
open the year round, and near-by are cold white sulphur and iron springs with 
curative properties. The reader may now accompany us to the far-famed 

YOSEMITE VALLEY AND BIG TREES. 

The far-famed Yosemite Valley, which has received the unanimous opinion 
of all travelers and writers who have visited it and the other noted natural, 
scenic wonders of the world as the grandest and most beautiful and entranc- 
ing spot they have ever seen, is 259 miles from San Francisco — 178 miles to 
Berenda (on the Southern Pacific), then 21 miles further by rail to Raymond, 
and 60 to the Valley. It is now all rail to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada 
mountains, where the traveler is transferred to the most approved pattern of 
stages (or carriages, really), and is delightfully whirled up into the land of won- 
ders over an excellent road, through giant timber, across ice-cold rivulets, and 
past cataracts which sometimes send their spray into the sunlight embellished 
with the colors of the rainbow. Some few years ago we visited the Yosemite 
in company with a gentleman who had traveled largely, and who had written 
much of the scenic attractions of Europe, Asia and America, and who exclaimed, 
as we reached " Inspiration Point," " My God ! self-convicted as a spendthrift in 
words, the only terms applicable to this spot I have wasted on minor scenes." 
And it was, unfortunately, true, that language failed to give adequate utter- 
ance to the emotion of my friend upon that occasion, and his hitherto facile- 
pen failed to perform its functions with its characteristic felicity and brilliancy. 
This has been the case with many, however, if not with all others ; and, thus r 
the pre-eminent grandeur and magnificence of the Yosemite remains, after all,, 
untold. Indeed, its charms must really be seen and felt ; for it is an absolute 
fact, that neither pencil, nor brush, nor photographic process, can give them 
faithful portraiture. 



66 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



The Yosemite Valley is about 150 miles, in an almost easterly direction, 
from San Francisco, and nearly midway of the State, between the northern and 
southern boundaries ; it was for many years the rendezvous, or permanent abiding- 
place, of hostile Indians, who had a legend for every point of interest, whether 
of water or rock. The place Was first seen in 1850 by a number of white men 
who had formed themselves into a military company to punish or compel peace 
with bands of murderous Indians; it was taken possession of in March, 185 1, 
by an expedition under the command of Captain Boling, which invaded the 
aboriginal stronghold, killed several of its defenders, and either stampeded or 
compelled peace with the rest. The Valley is some. 15 miles long, by about 
one-third of that distance in width, and is undoubtedly the most wonderful 
combination of chasm and dome, cliff and canon, mountain and valley, river 
and waterfall, cataract and streamlet, winter and summer, and sunshine and 
^£i^SP^ shadow, to be seen in the world — especially 

within a. radius of eight or ten miles. Among 
the most noted and majestic elevations, which 
rise right up vertically, many of these seem- 
ing like hewn rock, are : El Capitan, 3,300 
feet above the floor of the Valley, presented in the general view of the Valley 
on page 65 ; Cathedral Rock, 2,660 feet above the Valley ; 
Three Brothers, 3,830 feet; the Sentinel, 3,043 feet, with 
cascades of 3,000 feet fall; Washington Column, 1,875 feet; 
Dome and Royal Arches, 3,568 feet, down which descends a 
cataract of 1,000 feet ; the Half Dome, 4,737 feet ; Cloud's 
Rest, 6,150 feet; Glacier Point, 3,200; Sentinel Dome, 4,150; 
Eagle Point, 4,200, and many others of greater or less alti- 
tudes. The most noted waterfalls are the Yosemite, which first 
displays an unbroken descent 1,500 feet, then 600 feet of 
partly hidden cataracts, and a final leap of 400 feet— 2,526 in all; Bridal Veil, 
900 feet ; Vernal Falls, 400, and Nevada Falls, 600 feet. There are many other 
points of interest, conspicuous among which are the Merced river, Mirror 
lake, and romantic drives and climbs without number. There are a number 
of good hotels in the valley, and tourists are driven right up to their doors. 
The best time for visiting the falls is from the first of April until the end 
of July, but it is 'accessible until the snows of November close up its means 
of ingress and egress for several months. 

Thirty-five miles from Raymond is the Wawona Hotel (formerly Clark's) 
one of the most exquisite spots in the Sierra Nevada. This house is famous 
for its good fare and excellent treatment generally, and can nicely accommo- 






IN THE YOSEMITE VALLEY— FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY TABER. 



TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 



69 



date 100 persons. There is an abundance of game near-by, such as bear, 
deer (in great plenty), mountain quail, grouse, and smaller game, while the 
adjacent streams abound in trout. It is from this hotel that tourists make 
their pilgrimage to the Mariposa Big Tree Grove, which is six miles, and is 
made in a carriage, and for which there is no extra charge for those 
holding through tickets to and from the Yosemite Valley. In this mighty 
Grove there may be seen a large number of trees more than 300 feet in 
height, and varying from 50 to 93 feet in circumference, according to 
Professor Whitney's official measurement. 

The Calaveras Grove, which was the first one 
discovered (by a hunter named A. T. Dowd, in 
1852), has a magnificent lot of mammoth trees, 
also piercing the clouds at heighths exceeding 300 
feet and measuring, 80, 90 and 100 feet around at 
the ground. Most of these have marble slabs con- 
taining the names of distinguished soldiers, navi- 
gators, statesmen, poets, travelers and authors. The 




Calaveras Grove is \x\ miles fr 



San Francisco 



by rail and 44 by stage — 175 miles in all. The 
Mammoth Grove Hotel is owned and kept by 
James L. Sperry, and has lately been enlarged, and 
can now accommodate one hundred guests. There is a post-office, express and 
telegraph office at the hotel. It faces the Grove, having the greater number 
of trees to the left, looking from the veranda, and the Two Sentinels im- 
mediately in the front, about two hundred yards to the eastward. 1 lie valley 
in which the hotel is situated contains of the Sequoia trees, ninety-three, not 
including those of from one to ten years' growth. 



MOUNT SHASTA AND SISSON'S. 

Mount Shasta, a grand isolated extinct volcano, is tin- culminating peak of 
the union of the Sierra Nevada mountains and Coast Range in the northern 
part of California, and rises up majestically to an altitude of 14.444 feet. Its 
summits (it lias two; are mantled with perpetual snow, which is tin- reservoir 
of the Sacramento river, which bursts out from a lava bed near the mountain 
in cascades, as shown by an engraving on page y 2. It is situated in Strawberry 
Valley, a few miles from Sisson's, which is reached by rail from San FranciSCO, 
the distance being 3 
in point of beaut) 
be seen from the plains near Chico at a distance in a direct line of 126 



miles. Shasta has no rival on the American continent 
grandeur, picturesqueness and impiessiveness. It may 




J 



A LAYER AS BIl 



miles. P r o b a b 1 y t h e 
grandest and most beauti- 
ful view can be had of it 
from the north in Shasta 
valley at a distance of about 
thirty miles. From this point 
it appears to rise from a 
level plain and stand distinctly 
against the sky, dwarfing all 
other mountains within the 
range of vision. From this 
point it seems a vast pyramid, 
its base clothed with forests, 
and its middle portion also 
covered with forests, inter- 
spersed with what seem to 
be vast meadows of the deep- 
est green. Above these are 
other forests up to what is 
called the timber line, which 
seem to extend in a circle 
surrounding the mountain. 
Above the timber line, SO far 
as can be seen from the val- 



TO THE GOLD EX GATE. 



73 



ley, all vegetation ceases ; and above this line there seems to be nothing" but 
vast cliffs of dark lava and ravines with ice and snow. This abrupt termination 
of the forest and the sharp contrast of the lava and snow gives this mountain 
peculiar characteristics not possessed by any other in California. There is probably 
no spot upon the round earth which contains so main' natural attractions for 
the man of science, the artist, the husbandman, the poet and speculator, 
as this wonderful valley. The valley itself is a vast fertile prairie, dotted 
at picturesque intervals with groves of sturdy pines and " broad brown 
oaks." Here and there the level plain is relieved by pretty natural mounds, 
which van- in altitude from twenty to two hundred feet. On the east, the 
valley is bounded by a lofty spur of the Sierra Nevada, while high, high 
above all, the cloud-piercing Shasta Butte rears his snow-crowned summit to 
the skies. 

THE GEYSERS AND NAPA SODA SPRINGS. 

Next to the Yosemite and Big Trees the remarkable natural attraction 
called the Geysers claims attention as a wonder. The distance from San Fran- 
cisco is as follows: To Calistoga by railroad, via Oakland and Yallejo, 73 
miles ; and then by stage, over a route that will ever be remembered on ac- 
count of its great beauty and pic- 




the geysers, California. William B. Elliott. There are a 



74 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



hundred odd springs in all, of all temperatures and colors and noises, 
from the great Steamboat Geyser and Witches' Caldron down to the Devil's 
Ink Stand; 1 Machine Shop, Kitchen, Hot Alum Spring, Pluto's Punch 
Bowl, Geyser Smokestack and Cold Alum Spring. The " Witches' Caldron " (the 

most appropriately-named object in the canon, 
and a wonder among wonders), with its 



■Bill 



black, bubbling waters, is 195 ° Fahren- 
heit, and of unfathomable depth. 
Then there are the Devil's Canopy, 
Geyser Safety Valve, Devil's Pulpit, 
Steamboat Spring, 
Temperance Spring, 
Lava Beds, Indian 
Sweat Bath, Devil's 
Tea Kettle, Hot 
Acid Spring, Lemon- 
ade Spring, Devil's 
Oven, and many 
other objects of 
this California Hecla 
alone worth the trip 
to see. The round 
trip is a little over 
a mile from the 
hotel, and takes 
from an hour to an 
hour and a half. 
There is a good 
hotel at the Geysers 
capable of taking 

care of 100 people. The best time to visit the canon containing the springs 
is from six to seven in the morning, at which hours the atmosphere is cool 
and pleasant, and the steam effects are the most showy and imposing. 
The tourist must not forget to take a guide and a staff; gentlemen should 
turn up the bottoms of their pants a few inches, and ladies should wear 
short suits and heavy shoes. The hot sulphur water and steam baths will 
relieve gout, cure rheumatism, purify the blood, and generally extend to 
prostrated human nature a new lease. The trip from San Francisco to 
the Geysers is pronounced by many the most enchanting and diversified on the 




SCENE IN PETRIFIED FOREST, NEAR CALISTOGA, CALIFORNIA. 



76 FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 

Pacific Coast, and embraces a sail across the bay of San Francisco to Oakland ; 
then a railway ride, which has no superior, along the bay, from which may be 
seen Oakland, and Berkeley, and a variety of mountain and landscape 
scenery, on the right ; and Angel Island, Alcatraz, Goat Island, the Golden 
Gate, Mount Tamalpais, Navy Yard at Mare Island, and San Pablo Bay 
on the left ; then a sail by ferry across San Pablo Bay ; then by rail 
to Calistoga, via Vallejo, Napa, St. Helena, and other less important places. This 
trip takes the tourist through Napa valley, with its stretches of vineyard, orchard 
and grain lands, walled in by spurs of the Coast Range, called the Napa mountains 
on the right, and the Sonoma mountains on the left. On the hills at the right 
of Vallejo may be seen the Good Templars' Home for Orphans ; on the right 
of the road, near Napa, the Napa Insane Asylum ; and on the mountain side,, 
on the right, about six miles from Napa, the Napa Soda Springs, which is one 
of the prettiest and most attractive summer and winter resorts on the Pacific 
Coast, as will be seen by an illustration on page 75. A mile or two off the 
regular road from Calistoga to the Geysers is Petrified Forest, containing several 
acres of fallen, broken and uprooted trees which have been turned to stone. 
Near Calistoga, on the right, is Mount St. Helena, 4,343 feet above the sea. 
No person should leave the Pacific coast before visiting the Geysers and tak- 
ing in Napa Soda Springs and the Petrified Forest on the way. 

THE CALIFORNIA LAKES. 

Scattered here and there throughout the valleys and gorges of the Sierra 
Nevada mountain, from Shasta to Tehachep'i, are a thousand lakes, which 




CAPITOL AT SACRAMENTO. 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 



77 



are to the mountain tops like emeralds in a crown, and are considered by many 
as the most exquisite gems in the California diadem. Some of these beautiful 
bodies of water are without rivals elsewhere, conspicuously Lakes Tahoe, Dormer, 
Webber, Independence, Cascade, Echo, Fallen Leaf, and others. Dormer lake 
is immediately upon the line of the railroad, and perpetuates the name of the 
head of a party of 8.1 men and women who were overtaken by tremendous 
snows near its margin in the winter of 1846, of whom more than one-third 
perished from starvation and cold. This lake is three miles long and half that 
distance wide at its greatest width, and is reached by the cars of the Southern 
Pacific Company — distance, 271 miles — via Sacramento, the capital of the 




GEMS OF THE SIERRA — DON X I'.K AM) C'ASCA I >K LAKES. 



State, and one of the prettiest cities in the Union. Independence hike, lS miles 
from Donner lake, is 2)/ z miles long by \( of a mile wide arid is more than 
6,000 feet above the level of the sea. Webber lake, seven miles further, is 
a dainty, 6,925 feet above tide water. It \- about a mile from land t<> land 
in any direction, across Webber, and it is about 0,0 f tret in depth. Just 
one mile from Webber is Lake of the Woods, 7,495 feet above the sea. 
Cascade lake, near Mount Tallac, which overlooks Like Tahoe, LS 6,53 2 ittt. 

Tahoe is the grandest of all, lying partly in California and partly in Ne- 
vada. It is twehty-five miles in length, and in .some places it is from twelve 



78 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



to fourteen miles in width. It has a depth of 1,700 feet, an altitude of 6,216 
feet, and is surrounded by mountains which tower above the lake from 2,000 
to nearly 5,000 feet'. There is grandeur and enchantment at all times in the 
scenery which environs the lake, and never ending means of pleasure and ex- 
hilaration on its breast ; and the panorama of mountain 
and valley, meadowlancl and woodland, sunshine and 
cloud, as viewed from Tahoe city, is 
V5\3l\ spacious, inspiriting, and impressive. This 

view is an unspeakably fine one 

^ • * ,. Nik 



*JLi*f. r O 



the level 
9,715 feet, and 
along, Pyramid 



on the right, at a distance of 
twelve or fifteen miles, are the 
I Rubicon mountains, 9,284 feet above 
of the sea ; then Mount Tallac, 
Mount Ralston, 9,140; and, further 
peak, 10,052 feet ; then Monument 
the left, in the 
nearly as high ; 



i 



m ountains, 
in altitude, 
above the lake 
feet. Then 
round to the 
the Tahoe 
beautiful 
tranquil, some- 
the summer 
su miner sun- 



mountain, on 
far distance, 
and the Sand 
somewhat less 
but towering 
nearly 2,500 
bring the vision 
graceful outlines of 
range ; and, within this 
frame is Lake Tahoe, sometimes 
times turbulent ; but often, during 
months, un vexed by wind or rain. The 
sets upon Tahoe are remarkable for 
their great beauty and wealth of col- 
oring, and are grander than those so 
often mirrored in Lakes Como and 
Maggiore. No painter would ever dare to 
put upon canvas the variegated colors of 
Tahoe's waters in a summer sunset. It would appear 
such an exaggeration that he would lose caste 
among those who demand that the artist's pencil 

shall be true to nature. None but those who have witnessed the scene 
could be persuaded of its reality. Such beauty could not be, were it not for 
the highly reflective qualities of the pure translucent waters, which serve as a 



TAHOE SCENERY 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 79 

polished mirror of French plate glass. First is reflected the delicate, gauzy, 
pearly-gray haze which surrounds the mountain boundaries in the afternoon, 
and which forms the groundwork of the gorgeous picture. Later, this shades 
off into violet ; and, as the sun sinks, the mountains take on the most delicious 
crimson flush, deepening into purple. All of this beaut}' is reflected upon the 
surface of the lake. Here stretches out a shadow like the mother of pearl, or 
the breast of a beautiful 
pigeon ; there a deep band 
of crimson ; again, further 
on, a deep purple, shaded 
at the edges with blue and 
green. These streamers 
of beautiful light and 
shade stretch far across 
the lake, resembling the 
gorgeous aurora borealis 
of the northern latitudes. 
The wonderful play of 
this reflected color fills 
the soul of the beholder 
with a poetic fervor be- 
yond the power of ex- 
pression, as it is beyond 
the power of description. And when the sun sinks behind the western 
range which walls in the lake, and the weird shadows steal from 
out among the pines and creep across the waters like spirits of evil, awe 
follows fast as the shadows thicken. Then comes the blight moon creeping out 
of the snow fields of the eastern range, flooding the lake with its shower ol 
arrows of lambent light, transforming the surface into a shield ol dashing silver. 
The Grand Central Hotel, kept by A. I. Haylcy, at Tahoe city, is open from 
May until October, and offers every accommodation l<>r tourists or others 
visiting this charming resort. The hotel is located on a high bluff, .it tin- 
outlet of Lake Tahoe, and commands an extensive view ol tin- lake located 
as it is at an altitude of 6,216 feet above the sea. Steamers leave daily for 
round trip of the Like, and will convey guests <>t tin- Grand ( entral t<> any 
points on the lake, at any time, and at living rate--. The hotel carriage and raddle- 
horses are always in readiness for the exclusive accommodation of guests. 
■Connected with tin- hotel Is a billiard-room, croquet grounds, bowling-alley, bath- 
-house, laundry, and a market. There .ire telegraph, express, and post-office 




everybody's friend— a "character" at tahoe city, 



8o 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



privileges at the hotel. The fare is first-class. The parlors are large and furn- 
ished handsomely. The sleeping-rooms are also all well furnished, and the 
prices for board by the day or week are very reasonable. The Tallac House, 
at the upper end of the lake, is also a very superior hotel, and can accommo- 
date a hundred people. Lake Tahoe is 285 miles from San Francisco — 171 miles 
to Truckee by rail, and from Truckee to the lake 14 miles, up the Truckee 
river over a charming road. 

We now invite the reader to accompany us to the corner of FOURTH 
AND TOWNSEND STREETS, San FRANCISCO, where we will take the cars of the 

NORTHERN DIVISION OF THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO. 

and ride as far as El Paso de Robles Hot and Cold Sulphur Springs, which 
are undoubtedly as efficacious in their curative powers as any of the other 
greatly celebrated healing waters of the globe. Paso de Robles is 215 miles 
from San Francisco by rail, and is situated in the rich and beautiful valley of 




PARAISO HOT AND COLD SPRINGS, NEAR SOLEDAD, MONTEREY CO., CAL. 



the Salinas river. The climate at Paso Robles is as near perfection as can 
be found in the United States. The atmosphere is pure and entirely free from 
malarial poison. Owing to these climatic advantages, the Paso Robles Springs 
are accessible during the winter months, and bathing is equally safe and bene- 



TO THE GOLD EX GATE. 



Si 



ficial at all seasons. The accommodations at Paso Robles are first-class in 
every particular, and the place is kept open all the year round. 

Paraiso Springs, 143 miles from San Francisco by rail, and seven by 
carriage (from Soledad), is also a well-known health resort along the line of the 
Northern Division, where nature's cure gushes forth from the depths of the 
earth and where mild and delightful winters and charming summers render it a 
favorite the year round. Paraiso is a most charming retreat in many respects, 
aside from its health-renewing attractions. There are rivers and valleys and 

woods and mountains all around ; and many pleasant 
drives and walks. It is a resort not onlv for those 





seeking health ; it is the Mecca of 
man)' hundreds who occasionally 
m dismiss stud}' and busi- 

ness care and seek that 
most essential of all 
things to a busy 
m an — r e c r e a t i o n , 
There is a natural 
simplicity, an elegant repose, 
a breezy freshness about the 
spot which captivate the 
senses and fascinate the mind. 

Another prominent resort 
along the Northern Division of 
the Southern Pacific Co. — 
which is one of the most 
?upcri< r equipped and one of 
the best managed pieces 
1 of railway in the United 
States- are the ( rilroy Hot 
Mineral Springs, \\ hich are 
So miles by rail and 1.4 
(from (iilroyi by stage, 
over one of the most 
oral Springs have long been 
also the Madrone Mineral 



M 



picturesque drives in the State. The Gilroy riot 

household words throughout the Pacific Coast, and 

Springs, near-by. There are a number of very pretty towns upon tlu- line of the 
Northern Division, among which are San Mateo, 21 miles from San Francisco; 
Redwood 28 miles; Menlo Park, a most bewitchingly beautiful place, 32 miles; 



82 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



Santa Clara, 47 , San Jose, without doubt one of the most beautiful cities in the 
world, where there are no sudden changes of temperature, and where there is a 
delicious softness in the atmosphere the year round, 50; Gilroy, with its diademed 
mountains and mosaic sweeps of grasses and grains, 80; Sargents, where an 
exquisite tracery of murmuring streamlets may be seen netting the prodigal 
lowlands, 86 miles, and many other places at all times inviting. Mount 
Hamilton, 26 miles from San Jose, or a little over 50 miles as a bird flies from 
San Francisco, is renowned as the locality of the Lick Observatory, from which 
the biggest telescope in the w r orld looks out at the starry procession and whispers 
to its devotees the scandalous doings of Venus and the Man in the Moon, 




The Santa Cruz branch of the Northern Division of the Southern Pacific 
Company goes off from Pajarro, 99 miles from San Francisco, to Santa Cruz, 
21 miles, or 120 from San Francisco, and either passes or is adjacent to 
Watsonville, Aptos, Loma Prieta, Soquel and Capitola, the latter a most delight- 
ful sea-side resort, where bathing may be indulged in at all times of the year. 

Santa Cruz early became the Long Branch of the Pacific coast ; and, in 
point of site and surroundings, and an equability of atmosphere — where from 
rosy morn until glowing sunset the delicious air palpitates with soft, phe- 
nomenal ozone from the shores of Cathay— she is entitled to even more than 
has been said of her by those who know her and love her so well, and 
whose psalms of praise are just so many improvised canticles which add 
melody to the roar of the sea whose triumphal music is heard at all times 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 




8 4 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



of the .year. We shall permit a genial friend — an author and traveler — a real 
globe trotter, in fact — to tell you a little about Santa Cruz, which he just 
thinks is a little the prettiest place in the world, thus: 

"Santa Cruz is situated upon the Bay of Monterey, directly opposite the 
town of that name. The beach is a very fine one, about a mile or a little 

.more from the centre of the town. In picturesqueness of situation, Santa 

•Cruz has no superior, while its climate is about the same as that of Monterey, 
except that Santa Cruz is a trifle warmer during the summer months. Leav- 
ing the little city and mounting the hills in any direction the scene changes 

..and enlarges every few yards, and from any fair eminence, looking out to sea 

.and up and down the coast to the right and left, we feast our eyes on the 
green slope, dotted with spreading live-oaks, clustering orchards and white farm/ 
houses, while directly below us lies the little city, looking like some New 
England town washed ashore on this distant coast, every object in its tree- 
lined streets distinctly visible ; its half-dozen churches, its splendid public 

^school-house, with several other handsome public buildings, and its hundreds, 
approaching thousands, of happy looking homes, each one separate and distinct 
and fairly embowered in roses and flowering shrubs — roses in bushes, roses in 
trees, roses in clumps, roses in hedges, roses in arcades — roses, roses every- 
where, and blooming almost every month in the year. The bathing-beach is 
of the finest sand, almost level, smooth and clean to perfection ; there are 
good bath-houses, furnishing bathers with everything necessary for bathing, and 
many luxuries and comforts — sunny dressing-rooms, bathing-costumes of the 
latest, most becoming and comfortable styles, and obliging attendants always in 
readiness to assist bathers, and serve hot coffee , or other light refreshments, if 

-desired. The temperature of the surf during the bathing season is 58° to 62 . 
While the climate is mild, it is really bracing and invigorating — in fact 
stimulating, to a considerable degree. The general weather of Santa Cruz 
strongly resembles those exquisite spring days in England, all the more en- 
joyable for their rarity, when nature puts on all her fascinations; — birds, flowers, 
atmosphere and all conspiring to charm the heart and delight the senses. An 

• exceptional English spring may boast half a dozen such days, while a Santa 
Cruz winter is hardly thanked for a hundred. All through the winter the 
hills are of emerald green, and the woods but a shade darker, being almost 
entirely evergreen, and deciduous trees few, while blossoming shrubs abound. 
For promenading, the town offers its miles of broad, smooth sidewalk, for 
which Santa Cruz is remarkable. Excellent hotel and boarding accommodations 
provide for the large army of summer visitors." 

The reader is now taken by the Daisy Train to Monterey, the Queen 



86 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



of American Watering Places, or to the Station of the Hotel del Monte, 
one mile away from the quaint old town which sits placidly upon a slight 
eminence overlooking me sea. 

Monterey had always been known since its settlement as the place of all 

others in California where — by the conformation of 
its adjacent mountains and the warm current of the 
Pacific ocean, and the annual actions of winds — there 
is absolutely no winter or summer, and where obser- 
vations kept by priests and army officers for more 
than a century have shown that in some years the 
mean of summer and the mean of winter tempera- 
tures have been only 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 
apart, and many years only 9 and io°. Taking 
everything into consideration, and particularly as 
to equability of temperature, healthfulness of 
climate', and a multiplicity of other attractions 
and comforts, Monterey stands at the head of 
tJie list of American sea-side resorts, and may be 
justly termed the " Queen of American Water- 




ing Places. 



While Monterey has always had the reputation, among old Californians, as 
we have just stated, of being the most healthful and most delightful spot in their 
State, it is only since the completion of the " Hotel del Monte" (June, 1880,) 
that invalids and tourists could have the com orts, enjoyments and surroundings 
which refined and cultivated people desire, while availing themselves of its 
equable and salubrious climate. Since the opening of the " Hotel del Monte," 
Monterey has been visited by tens of thousands of tourists — from all parts of 
the United States and Europe — who heartily indorse all that is said in behalf 
of this now famous resort. There is probably no place upon sea-shore so replete 
with natural charms as Monterey. Its exquisite beauty and variety of scenery 
is diversified with ocean, bay, lake and streamlet; mountain, hill and valley, 
and groves of oak, cypress, spruce, pine and other trees. The hotel stands 
near the edge of a beautiful enclosure of one hundred and twenty-six acres 
of undulating land, within the sound of the waters of Monterey bay, is 
built in modern Gothic style, and is three hundred and eighty feet in length 
and one hundred and fifteen feet in width, besides an extension recently con- 
structed. The main part is divided into two full stories, a high attic story 
and a basement. In all it contains two hundred and forty rooms, and 
can easily acccommodate five hundred guests. The establishment through- 



88 FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 

out is furnished in the most luxurious manner. The floors are covered with body 
brussels carpet of varied and exquisite patterns, while the furniture, which is wal- 
nut, oak and ash, is of the most modern and elegant construction. The table is 
kept bountifully supplied with every delicacy the market affords, cooked in the 
most appetizing manner and served in perfect style. The wine-cellar is stocked 
with the choicest brands and vintages, all of which are supplied to the guests at 
the most reasonable prices. It is pronounced by all who have been within its 
agreeable influences, as the handsomest and best kept watering-place hotel in 
America. The office or lobby in the centre of the building is a cosy apartment 
42 by 48 feet, containing a mammoth fire place. As in- a number of the best 
Eastern resorts, the office is intended as much for the occupancy of ladies as for 
gentlemen. Connected with the lobby is a pleasant reading and writing room, 24 
by 36 feet, and beyond this, and entered from the spacious hallway, is a ladies' 
billiard-room, 25 by 62 feet, one of the largest and at the same time most 
elegant apartments for such uses to be found in any hotel in America. A 
ladies' parlor, 34 by 42 feet, lies beyond this room, and partly in the rear, 
and approached by means of both a hallway and a covered veranda, is a fine 
ball-room, 36 by 72 feet. Beyond this is the new wing, four stories in height. 
The apartments are sunny, roomy, well lighted and well ventilated, and here, 
as well as in the main section of the house, are means of artificial heat, when 
such is required. The halls or corridors in both the old and new portions of 
the house, are wide and lofty, and the staircases are also capacious. The 
dining-room is an elegant apartment, 45 by 70 feet, and there is also a dining- 
room for children and servants, and rooms for private parties. The kitchen is 
33 by 40 feet. The hotel is lighted throughout with gas made at the works 
upon the grounds, and supplied with pure water from the Carmel river. No 
pains have been spared to provide against fire, both in perfect construction of 
flues and in the apparatus for extinguishing flames. Both hot and cold water are 
carried through the hotel in pipes, and the house is provided with all other modern 
appliances and improvements. There are bath-rooms on the different floors, free 
to the guests. In front and at the ends of the house are broad, shaded 
verandas, where guests may sit and inhale the pure air fresh from the 
ocean, perfumed with the aroma of flowers; or, preferring exercise, indulge 
in the gentle excitement of shuffle-board. 

The bar, bowling-alley and smoking-room are contained in a separate 
building known as the Club-house, an engraving of which is presented on 
page 89, and still further away, hidden by the trees, is a finely appointed 
stable and carriage-house. As driving constitutes one of the leading amuse- 
ments of Monterey, the latter appurtenances have been especially looked after. 



9 o 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



There are accommodations for sixty or more horses, and there is telephone 
communication between hotel and stable. The grounds surrounding the hotel 
present the perfection of art in the way of landscape gardening. Under the 
direction of an accomplished landscape gardener, a corps 
of between forty and fifty men is kept constantly engaged 
in embellishing the gardens, avenues, and walks, 
approach to the hotel from the railway station 
by a winding avenue shaded by venerable 
trees, or by a graveled walk forming a more 
direct route. The distance is slight, since 
the hotel has a station upon its own 
grounds. To the left is a little lake, with 
a fountain, bearing its old Spanish title of 
Laguna del Rey. The hotel is first seen 
through a vista of trees, and, in its beautiful 
embowerment of foliage and flowers, resembles JP 
some rich private home in the midst of a broad 
park. This impression is heightened when the 
broader extent of avenues, lawns and flower-bordered walks 
come into view. The gardener's art has turned many acres 
into a choice conservatory, where the richest flowers blossom 
in profusion. Here and there are swings, croquet grounds, an archery, lawn- 
tennis courts, and bins of fine beach sand — the latter being intended for the 
use and amusement of the children who cannot await the bathing-hour for the 
daily visit to the beach. The use of all these, as well as of the ladies' 
billiard saloon, is free to guests. In all directions there are seats for loungers. 
Through a vista formed by the umbrageous oaks and pines, the huge, bulbous 
forms of a varied family of cacti are seen. In another place is a bewildering 
maze. Everywhere flowers and rare plants abound, and every avenue and 
pathway is bordered by intricate floral devices. In any direction the eye may 
turn are fresh visions of beauty. In the fall of 1883 a great improvement 
was consummated in the introduction of an abundant supply of pure, soft 
water from the Carmel river. Extensive water-works were constructed at an 
expense of over half a million dollars. The supply not only meets every 
requirement of the hotel, but also feeds the great fountain in the lake. 

The Del Monte bathing pavilion is situated on the beach, about eight 
minutes' walk from the hotel, and is one of the largest and most complete 
establishments of the kind in the world. It is seventy feet wide by one 
hundred and seventy feet long. There are four tanks of about thirty-six feet 





AT DEL MONTE— DOLCE I \ R NIENTE— AND BOTANY. 



9 2 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



wide by fifty feet long. The water in these tanks ranges in temperature from 
cold up to warm, and the bather can take his choice. The heating is done 
by steam, and the w r ater is daily changed. The pavilion contains two hundred 
and ten dressing-rooms, one-half of which is set apart for the use of ladies. 
Each of the latter is fitted up with a fresh-water shower bath, while on the 
gentlemen's side fourteen shower baths serve for all. The pavilion and every- 
thing connected with it is kept scrupulously clean and always presents a pleasing 
appearance. When filled with bathers and spectators (as may be seen by the 
engraving on page 93) it presents a spectacle which, in point of animation and 
interest, would be hard to surpass. Outside of this pavilion is a beautiful 
sandy beach, on which surf-bathing may be indulged. 

An adjunct of the Hotel del Monte is its 18-mile drive, over a splendidly- 
kept macadamized road, by way of Monterey, Pacific Grove, Cypress Grove, 
Carmel Bay and the old Mission Church, which is shown in an engraving on 
page 95. Pacific Grove, a short distance from Monterey is to the Pacific Coast 
what Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Ocean Grove are to Atlantic sea-side 
resorts, except that the Pacific Grove Retreat has as equable a temperature as 
Monterey, itself, and is kept open all the year round. It is delightfully 
situated on the beautiful bay of Monterey, less than two miles from the old 
town, and in loveliness of location cannot be excelled, its graceful pines extend- 
ing to the water's edge. 

In conclusion, permit us to call the attention of all who peruse this 
book to an indubitable fact — and that is : That the truly and genuinely mild 

winter climate of California renders it especially de- 
sirable as a place of sojourn for persons who seek to 
r> escape from the extremes of cold and sudden changes 
of temperature experienced in the East and in Florida, 
and especially Monterey, which seems to possess many 
advantages over other parts of California on account of 
the remarkable equability of its temperature. It is cooler 
here in summer and warmer in winter than at most other 
resorts, and the difference in temperature between January and 
July has been shown, by careful meteorological observations taken 
for a series of years, to be only a few degrees. 

Before closing, we desire to call the attention of the reader 
to one other point, and that is: That there are great numbers of eastern people 
and others who annually flee their inhospitable winter climes for places more con- 
genial, who only hesitate about making the California trip on account of the longer 
distance and higher rates of transportation. These are they, of course, who 




94 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 



are not aware of the reasonableness of terms at the Hotel del Monte — which 
is precisely, or about precisely, half what is charged in South Carolina and 
Florida, for always poorer and generally indifferent accommodations. Next to 
its equability of climate and elastic effects, and the multiplicity of other 
attractions which no other resort in the world affords, the tourist marvels at 
the terms for the ne plus ultra of hotel accommodations. Indeed, more won- 
der, from those who have traveled extensively, is elicited on account of the 
reasonableness of the hotel charges at Del Monte, than from all other things. 

On pages 96, 97, 98 and 99 are plans of floors and locations of apart- 
ments, from which the intending visitor can select and confer upon with the 
" Manager of the Hotel del Monte, Monterey, California," and which can be 
reserved a reasonable time before arrival. More than two hundred eastern 
people who wintered at Del Monte in 1885-86 engaged their quarters in this 
way, and upon their arrival were politely ushered to their inviting apartments 
— aromatic with fragrance from exquisitely combined floral offerings — from whose 
windows they could behold sixty acres of plants and lawn ; where roses and 
heliotropes, geraniums and verbenas, and an hundred other flowers exhaled 
their spicy breaths ; where fuchsias of innumerable varieties swayed their graceful 
pendants in a zephyry air, and where the ripening oranges and lemons and 
pomegranates swung like golden censers amid their everlasting emerald foliage ; 
while a great robe of snow upon the mountains a few miles away seemed 
like a bridal veil draped over the blushing brow of the vast expanse of soft, 
sunny land — 

" Where a leaf never dies in the still blooming bowers. 

And the bee banquets on thro' a whole year of flowers." 

******* 
"Where a wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows, 

And the groves are of laurel and myrtle and rose." 



TO THE GOLDEN GATE. 



95 




9 S 



FROM THE CRESCENT CITY 




TO THE GOLDEX GATE. 



99 




Left New Orleans - 

Arrived at San Antonio 

Left San Antonio 

Arrived, at El F*aso _ 

Left El Paso 

Arrived, at Los Angeles 

Left Los Angeles _ 

Arrived at San Francisco 

Went to Yosemite Valley and Big Trees 

" Shasta ; 

" the Geysers and Napa Soda Springs 

" Lake Tahoe 

" Monterey (Hotel del Monte) 



jemutattda. 



RESIDENCE 



